Aftertale
by ArumAnimus
Summary: (WARNING: Reading this story may spoil the game for you.) It's a beautiful day. The birds are singing. The flowers are blooming. Perfect weather for playing catch... It's on a very day like this the monster race finds themselves finally free! Unfortunately, that "freedom" is at best- a gilded cage. The game is over, but can they still manage to find a happy ending?
1. Chapter 1

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Those of you who have completed the game must be aware of the opening scene where Chara falls down the hole into the underground. The time period said 201X. The game insinuates that it has been many, many years since that incident happened, which would mean Undertale's actual timeline is pretty far off into the future; however, the game's exact date is quite ambiguous. The war mentioned in the intro happened centuries ago-as we can see the humans fighting with spears-but Chara was definitely from our current generation. All of the other souls fell after him, yet the game still insists that by the time Frisk has fallen down the hole, no one has seen a human in a very long time. The timeline for the fanfiction is as follows... Old War centuries before 2000's - - - **__**Chara falls down the hole somewhere in the 2010's - - - Over the course of twenty or thirty years the lost children meet their fate - - - Another ten or so years past and Frisk finally falls down and begins the game we all know as Undertale. (Specific era is up to interpretation. But a safe assumption is around the 2050's. Society is definitely more advanced than 2015, but people have not changed enough to prevent what happens in the plot.)**_

It was finally over.

Frisk's arduous journey had come to end at last, and everyone was happy and free. Better yet, they did it without killing anyone, not a single person. Even _Flowey_ received mercy- who turned out to be Asriel, the departed prince. That was after he damn-near eviscerated everything in existence, including by tampering with numerous timelines.

Why they had done it, they could not say, not to any of their friends anyway. The knowledge of various timelines, the ability to alter reality, was a secret. A special power no one else could harness. Even if Frisk explained themselves, what proof did they have? Who would believe them, when after every RESET, all of their memories would be wiped clean, unaware of the higher powers at work. It could only be summoned via magical SAVE POINTS scattered across the third dimension, or on the very fringes of demise. Frisk's inner determination would allow them to shatter the walls of death, to tear at the very fabric of reality, an infinite and unflinching power...

It took two tries.

Their first attempt resulted in a "neutral ending". Frisk climbed the mountain, tripped on an upturned root, and fell down the chasm into the monster world. Whilst trapped there, they met their beloved friends Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton, and Asgore. But the first person Frisk met, the very first face they encountered was Flowey.

And he tried to kill them.

It seemed all-too-suspicious for these flying "friendliness pellets" to not be a trap. Especially since Frisk knew the legend. The legend of a great war between humans and monsters. Ending in the human race's victory, allowing them to dominate the world while the monster race was banished to a harsh exile underground. Ebott Mountain was said to hide the portal, and there were many rumors exclaiming that children who wandered there would never return.

So why would a monster be so nice to a human? Probably to the first one they might have ever seen at that? Then Flowey slipped up in his impatience with Frisk's constant dodging of said "pellets", and accidentally called them BULLETS. This was when Frisk tried to flee, but Flowey trapped their soul, making escape impossible. If Toriel hadn't intervened, Frisk would be dead. And this happiness they all share wouldn't exist either.

Many battles, puzzles, bad-puns and near-death experiences later, Frisk had defeated Asgore- King of all Monsters. But Frisk refused to kill him. Frisk was a merciful soul, and they would not sacrifice the life of another just so they could escape to the surface. The barrier that prevented the monsters from escaping was made with a powerful seal. A seal that could only be broken by collecting seven souls, all human souls, and then combining them with a monster soul so the breaker of the seal could become a god-like being and destroy it once and for all.

Frisk gave up their last chance to return home with their own kind; friends and family- so that Asgore may live. They resigned themselves to returning to Toriel, leaving behind all hopes of resuming their previous life.

That was when Flowey attacked.

He killed him. Right before Frisk's eyes. Asgore was destroyed, not just murdered, but struck at his most vulnerable moment, already beaten and broken from the battle he just lost to the human child. Worst yet, during the prior conversation the two were having upon Frisk's decision to spare the king, Flowey took the opportunity to absorb the captured souls. He became an _eldritch abomination_ , torturing poor Frisk in an endless battle.

But Frisk had determination!

The determination to stop Flowey, to avenge Asgore, to save their friends and home world from Flowey's wrath and lust for destruction. That determination called forth the six lost souls, releasing them, and bestowing Frisk the power strong enough to defeat Flowey.

He was powerless once reduced back to his weak, feeble plant form. He gave up. He told Frisk to kill him. He _dared_ Frisk to kill him. Yet, they could not. Frisk was not a killer, not a murderer like Flowey was. They could've done it, and it took a second thought to keep them from killing him, for Flowey had pushed the child to the brink of abandoning mercy. No one would blame Frisk after all he had done. But Frisk felt something. An intuition that there was more to the story. That Flowey could be saved too. That he _deserved_ mercy. Frisk knew sparing Flowey would not be a decision they would regret, it would be the right choice.

The darkness came anyway.

Even after all of Frisk's heroic deeds, their struggles and sacrifices, still Frisk found themselves trapped in limbo after the battle. It felt like they had spent an eternity there, unable to move, speak or see anything other than pitch blackness. They could hear voices, the voices of their friends' prayers. They were all right. The world moved on without them. Just as they were about to accept this as their fate, Flowey appeared yet again.

This time, not as an enemy. But as an ally. He offered Frisk a second chance. A chance to LOAD, even after he had destroyed their SAVE FILE. He gave them a hint. A hint on how to get a better ending. An ending that would allow _everyone's_ freedom, including thier own. Where nobody had to die. Frisk put their trust in Flowey. With a few choice actions, the timeline was altered. Even after Flowey was exposed as a traitor _yet again_ , Frisk found out Flowey was not a person, but _people._

There was a reason Flowey was aware of the abilities to RESET, LOAD and SAVE. A reason why he kept switching from passive to sociopath. Flowey had two souls inside of him, Chara and Asriel. And only human souls had the grace of determination.

Asriel was the long-dead Prince of Monsters, Queen Toriel and King Asgore's son. He was the innocent soul, tied to the ravenous beast that is Chara, who is the hidden persona of Flowey. Asriel was merely a child when he was murdered by humans. Chara was a human boy, who, like Frisk, fell down the hole while climbing Mt. Ebott and found himself trapped in a realm inhabited by monsters. But Chara was not like Frisk in any other regard. He was a hateful child. Chara despised humanity, and after much prodding, Asriel finally told Frisk the reason he climbed the mountain.

He was going to kill himself.

Chara was born long before Frisk, raised in a humble village that no longer exists today. At the time, it was blessed with the most beautiful golden flowers. They grew nowhere else. Yet, despite the beauty and tranquility, there lay underneath that happy guise- a much darker, uglier truth. Chara's life was miserable. He was abused by his family. He had no friends to comfort him, and the villagers turned a blind eye to the crimes committed in his home. After years of isolation and despair, the boy's will shattered. He ran away from his village, to a place no one would dare try to find him and force him back: To Mt. Ebott.

His original plan was not to jump down a hole, but off the very peak of the mountain. Unlike Frisk, he did not believe in the old legend, nor did he really care. Still, he fell, and to his dismay he survived. Asriel found him injured and crying out in agony. Toriel and Asgore tended to Chara, and after some time, they grew attached. Seeing that the boy had no desire to return to the surface, they raised him as their own. But Chara was too scarred, too unforgiving, even when presented with love and charity. He was not grateful.

As karma would have it, the boy never fully got over his wounds. They healed well-enough, but he supposedly caught a nasty infection, one that nobody detected, and succumbed to illness. When he died, Asriel was heartbroken, weeping over his adoptive-brother's dead body. This left his young soul very vulnerable, so with Chara's determination to survive, to get revenge on the humans, his soul dove into Asriel's body, creating the first-ever fusion of human and monster. Asriel was now powerful enough to pass through the protective seal on the barrier, and the first place he went to was to Chara's village.

The villagers were outraged. Asriel had agreed to take Chara's body to the village because his last wish was to see the golden flowers, but when the humans witnessed a monster for the first time in centuries, they had assumed he killed the boy. So they attacked Asriel with all of their might. The soul of Chara wanted to kill them, but Asriel did not, and as it was his body, he overwhelmed Chara's will for revenge and refused to fight back. Tragically, Asriel returned home, bloody and broken. His parents found him in the palace garden, where he would soon after die in his mother's arms.

The two children were now dead. It wouldn't be until many years later that Frisk would enter the timeline.

Thanks to Asriel, Frisk knew the full story. It was that information that allowed them to succeed on their second attempt, the one that would yield a "true ending". After uncovering the truth from traversing the Hidden Lab, Frisk was equipped enough to defeat Flowey's true form, save not only all of monsterkind but humankind as well. Because Chara was not done. Chara's determination remained. In an experiment gone wrong, the ashes of Chara and Asriel's god-like body were collected, their combined souls placed in a new vessel. A little golden flower.

This is why Flowey was the way he was. Only by the time he met Frisk, he was far worse. Flowey's sanity hung by a thread. Frustrated, died and then revived, reenacting countless timelines and exhausting every possibility- he grew bored of _everything_ and _everyone._ Chara was intent on the extinction of humans no longer. No. This time. The _whole world_ would be eradicated. And the next, and the next, and the next. Over and over and over.

Frisk fought this evil. Frisk prevailed over this madness. Frisk was only a child, but their determination proved far stronger than Chara's. The barrier was destroyed, the monsters free, and the dawn of a new world shone upon them. However, they would quickly discover…

In the human world: It's kill or be killed.


	2. Chapter 2

All was thought to be well when the monsters finally gathered themselves and caravaned to the world above.

First and foremost, there was the issue of who should be left behind. After all, the monsters needed to test the waters first, for they couldn't risk losing everybody if things suddenly went south. So King Asgore allowed a few families to build their new homes on the aboveground of Mt. Ebott, but no farther! Those who wished to stay underground remained, and those not willing to settle for Mt. Ebott had to stay as well, until the surface was deemed "safe". Toriel, Alphys, Sans, Papyrus and Undyne were allowed to roam as they please, volunteering themselves as representatives to interact with the humans.

A small amount of monsters grew jealous, they deemed it as "favoritism" and decided to head out on their own anyway. Why should those five be only the ones allowed to interact with humans?

For the first couple of months, things seemed almost too good to be true. Toriel and Asgore had finally found some common ground, and were working _together_ on the political matters between monsters and humans. There were even talks between them of building a co-ed school. One that would set a shining example that cohabitation between the races was not only possible, but natural.

Initially, the people above ground were hesitant. And as expected, they were shortly met with violence. Mostly petty criminals, the prejudiced, religious zealots, etc. Nothing that would cause political scandal. The Royal Guard hastily and non-lethally handled any skirmishes. Once the monsters were deemed not a threat, pockets of land were handed over to them as reparations. To Toriel and Asgore's disappointment, most of them were garbage dumps, infertile farmland, and empty lots soiled with pollution. The land itself, also rested close to the base of Mt. Ebott, but "it was progress" reminded the hopeful queen.

Papyrus had finally achieved his dream. Not becoming a member of the Royal Guard, but his other dream of attaining a license and driving a hot red sports car down a long highway; the wind whipping his cape and the sun's warmth atop his skull. Papyrus also expanded his blog, and he had even gained more followers on the internet- reaching the triple digits! Of course, he could not shake that one troll that refused to capitalize his letters and spammed his page with terrible puns.

Sans only wished for the welfare of his brother, and the two of them still lived in their home underground, though they surfaced frequently. He obtained himself a blue and silver motorcycle, partook in as many fast-food eateries he could find, and attended a comedy club on Saturday nights. To only Frisk's knowledge-which the child was unsure if he was aware of-he attended a reputable online college and earned his Ph.D. in Psychology and Quantum Physics.

Undyne and Alphys _finally_ became an official couple. With Alphys's help, Mettaton was able to air his show on human cable and radio. She also assisted the king and queen in making the land they had been given hospitable. Alphys took the work with great pride- seeing it as a chance for redemption. Perhaps she could prove to the others that she could do more than cause misery.

Undyne remained Undyne. Though she had this odd habit of making grown men cry, to the group's discovery. All the group knew was that she very much liked the beach and the barbecue that came with it, and was taking up this new hobby called "surfing". When she wasn't soaking up sand and sun, she spoiled Alphys with otaku merchandise: figurines, dolls, shirts, hats, and countless recorded seasons of anime.

As for Frisk, they promised Toriel and the others they would keep in touch. They were eager to see their family again. When Frisk returned, they were welcomed back with tears and great cheer, for the child was greatly missed. Frisk resumed their ordinary life with extraordinary enthusiasm! They had so many exciting stories to tell, interesting people for them to meet, awesome things for the townsfolk to see! Those would have to wait however, for to their chagrin, school would be starting soon.

Halfway into a year on the surface, situations turned unexpectedly sour.

The civilians of the underground were growing restless. They were itching to expand their territory and explore the world they had been denied for generations, but still found themselves stuck to the mountain. The general human public was still against cohabitation with monsters, deeming that they saw it as unsafe and unnatural. While many others dared to disagree, there arose this almost _civic unrest._ You were either against the monsters or not. Which as one could imagine, caused some controversy... Thus slowing the progression of their expansion.

Many close-minded politicians deemed it as unjust, as the monsters had their chance on this earth before they lost the war. But did that matter so much now? The monsters had indeed arrived, and they were not savage. Could the past not be left to rest? This was the perspective of the younger population. Who, unlike their elders, seemed open and eager to the idea of monsters living alongside humans. But as Frisk would soon find out, no one heeds wisdom from the youth.

The human leaders were **not impressed** when the monsters brought a _child_ to the United Nations as their ambassador. Frisk, though honest and sincere, was not taken seriously. After that, the sticky issue of _how_ the monsters broke the seal was brought to the table: At the cost of **six human souls** , _children_ no less, the monsters broke the seal and escaped.

Asgore and Undyne profusely disagreed. Were the humans not guilty of their war crimes generations ago? The rebuttal was that any such disagreements were handled with the war itself. Which the monsters lost...

There was even further outrage when an ugly rumor went around that Frisk was subject to kidnapping, child endangerment, abuse and neglect. That is, the gross exaggeration of Frisk's dangerous and taxing journey underground.

This demolished any hope of ever reaching beyond Mt. Ebott. The monsters lost nearly all of their public support. It equally destroyed Frisk's personal life, as they were not allowed to see their non-human friends, speak up on their behalf, or attempt to contact them. The government had their house on intense lock-down, and they were pulled from school to attend a psychiatric ward and regular police-questioning.

It took a toll on the little kid. Frisk nosedived into a deep depression. Their friends distanced themselves from Frisk, either from fear of the same suspicion or at their parents' demand. Everywhere they went, public eyes would leer and glare. Frisk soon became a stigma.

Frisk's own family became increasingly disconnected as well. Though they still cared for their child, they could not sympathize with them, nor did they want to hear of the "wondrous" adventures in the underground. They insisted on convincing Frisk that monsters were evil, and that they was being manipulated this whole time because they were using innocence as a front. (This what they were quickly brainwashed to believe.)

The constant putting down from their family, interrogating, interviews and sessions with therapists caused Frisk much grief. The child had long been known as an introvert and mute, but when she returned from the underground- she returned full of expression and life. Most parents would be relieved, but Frisk's mother and father were blatantly disturbed. The difference between their sweet, quiet child before they went missing and after they returned was night and day! Surely something traumatic must have happened.

In the end, they chose to live life as usual, hoping the matter would solve itself with time.

Alas, it did not. What the family thought was a slow and steady return to normalcy was in fact, Frisk's crumbling back to the default of silent and stoic. Frisk proceeded to make many attempts to run away from home in the following months. But was always caught, then pulled in for more questioning. It began to tear at their soul. The depression overcoming determination.

Until Frisk heard a familiar voice.

"wakey wakey."

Frisk gasped and shot up from the bed. They squinted to make out a short, stocky, hooded silhouette. Two beady, glowing, white orbs floated in the darkness.

Sans put a boney finger to his mouth. "sssh. keep quiet." Suddenly he shrugged. "then again, that shouldn't be hard for you. heard you don't do much talking nowadays."

Frisk rubbed their eyes. Not wanting to get their hopes up for what might be another dream.

Still, he was there.

"you're lookin pretty dumbstruck there, kid. what? am i the skeleton of your dreams?"

It really was him! No one else would make such an awful joke at this hour.

Sans shifted his orbs left and right. "let's cut to the chase. do you wanna go back?"

Without hesitation, Frisk pulled themselves out of bed and smiled.

Sans sighed and knelt down. "kid, this isn't a visit. i'm asking you if you want to go back home, with us?"

The child nodded their head vigorously.

Sans eye sockets went grave. "so you _do_ understand that once you make that choice, **you can never live in this world again.** "

Again Frisk nodded.

"k. follow me. i know a shortcut."

Without giving Frisk a chance to change clothes or pack a bag, he walked off into the darkness. Frisk obediently followed him, their footsteps with a slight skip to them from the fluttering joy in their heart. They could see nothing, only the dark shadow of Sans ahead of them, not even their footsteps were audible. Frisk had done this before, and knew his "shortcuts" were really just acts of teleportation. They were passing through a tunnel, a tunnel that existed on the edge of reality, where Sans traversed the world as he pleased.

A dim, bluish light could be made out in the distance.

"listen kiddo, we're gonna be back in the underground soon, and you should know, things haven't been the same. have you heard the news at all?"

Frisk shook their head. They were not even allowed the curtesy of playing in their yard, so of course no one would fill them in on the details of the world beyond their small house.

Sans's shoulders slumped and he slowed his pace, "..."

By the looks of it, they found themselves outside, not far from Snowdin, based on the environment. Sans continued to walk, and Frisk struggled to keep up. After a few minutes of walking in silence, he noticed the lack of swishing hair in his peripheral vision. He turned around to find Frisk trudging knee-high through the snow. They were shivering and hugging themselves tightly, he noticed the lower half of their footie-pajamas were soaked.

 _"oh. right."_ He thought to himself, slapping his forehead. He stopped, let the child catch up and removed his blue hoodie to drape it over them. Frisk took it gratefully, managing what somewhat resembles a grin despite the frost gathering on their face. Sans took the hood and flipped it over their head, then zipped up the jacket so it would fit snugly.

"take it slow kid, i wouldn't want people to think i'm in a hurry." Although Frisk _was_ very tired, and cold, and wet, and hungry- they did not not want to take their time; they wanted to get indoors as soon as possible. By the time Frisk was about spent, they approached the intimidating stone doors. Sans took a step forward and rapped his knuckles against the stone.

"knock. knock." He said aloud.

A soft, gentle voice answered. Frisk heartbeat picked up a few paces. "Who's there?"

"a great, big, **bonehead.** "

"A great, big, bonehead who?"

Sans took a moment, as if he was trying to think of something clever, but in the end he chose to answer simply. "that's me. open up."

He took a step back, and the heavy doors groaned open just wide enough for them to slide in.

"Sans. What are you doing here at this time of night?" Toriel questioned sleepily.

"and what are you doing by these doors at this time of night?" He rebuttled.

Toriel blushed, but then took on a more mothering tone. "Where is your sweater?" She asked immediately noticing the skeleton was in his usual white tee and black shorts, but without his signature hood.

"lent it to a friend." He pulled Frisk forward by the sleeve rather roughly, they stumbled in front of Toriel.

Toriel lost her breath, and her eyes immediately began to water. "Frisk!" She fell to her knees, arms open, Frisk rushed into them, and the two shared a heartfelt embrace.

Sans looked away, trying to hide his slightly-bigger-than-usual-smile.

Frisk buried their face in Toriel's tummy, sniffling and clutching her dress tightly. Toriel picked Frisk up and stroked their hair lovingly, Frisk's head now resting on her shoulder. Then her demeanor changed once more.

"Do you realize what you've done?"

Sans shrugged. "no one else had the **backbone** to do it."

Toriel momentarily turned her head to the soft snickering muffled into her shoulder. "This is a serious offense. We can never go back from this." She squinted.

"there. you said 'we'. besides, this was their choice too, so technically it's not 'kidnapping'."

A small smile crept upon Toriel's face. "Still, they will accuse us of it."

Once again, he shrugs. "then it doesn't make a difference."

A loud sniffle pulls them from their conversation.

"kid's gonna be chilled down to the **bone** if we don't get em' some warm food and a hot bath." Sans advises.

Toriel rolls her eyes. "You were right. You _are_ a **bonehead.** "

Back in her cozy home, Frisk is enjoying a soak while the food is being prepared. Sans skims through Toriel's book collection. " _this lady's obsession with snails… better not be in the food."_ He thinks to himself, a little disturbed.

"Just a simple vegetable stew tonight. I wasn't planning on cooking on such _short notice._ " She frowned.

Sans doesn't even bother to look at her. "you don't answer your phone these days."

She lets out an audible sigh. "Come help me set the table."

He shakes his head. "nah. too much work."

"Fine, no dinner for you then." She quickly retorts.

"i'm not hungry anyway." Of course, that was a lie. But stew wasn't really his thing. Maybe if she had onion rings...

"Sans, you know you could really benefit from being more productive." Toriel advises, her voice stiffening.

Finally he turns his head. "you sound just like my brother."

Toriel giggles. "Nyeh heh heh…"

"please don't, i'll set the table." Sans pleads, already regretting mentioning his brother.

"The Great Toriel recommends you eat all of your greens tonight."

"tori, stop."

"Nyeh heh heh…"

Sans snatches the dishes from Toriel, and begins setting up the plates and cups. With a triumphant smile, Toriel heads into the kitchen to tend to the stew.

Frisk emerges from the bath, and atop the towel rack are some child-sized, neatly folded clothes. Frisk pulls over their head a polka dot pajama shirt, fumbles with the buttons, then wiggles into the pants. They open the door to release a cloud of steam, and waddles into the living room to take their place at the dinner table. Sans notices that Frisk eyes the soup suspiciously, then after stirring it around with the spoon, inspecting it for signs of snail, hungrily begins slurping it down. " _guess that means it's safe."_ He decides to start eating as well.

Once the stew is devoured, Toriel addresses Frisk. "I am so happy to see you again, my child. I've heard awful things."

Frisk's face goes stone cold.

"I am sorry you were put through such treatment for our sake. But I am proud of you."

Sans excuses himself from the table to sit in Toriel's armchair. He has his back to them, facing the fireplace.

"I know you must be tired, but I want to tell you what you missed while you were locked away."

Frisk musters up enough energy to sit up straight and stay awake. Toriel then regretfully recalls the events that have passed in the following months.


	3. Chapter 3

After Frisk was taken out of the picture and forced to live under house-arrest, the humans made their most strategic move yet.

Word got out not just in their small area, or at the board meetings of politicians, but the WHOLE WORLD was told the cost of the monsters' freedom. Six, innocent, human children were murdered by their king, and the last one survived, but was forced to participate in the ritual. There was absolute mayhem.

The representatives Undyne, Papyrus, Sans, and Alphys were no longer allowed access to human civilizations. Instead, they were sent to stand trial, doing their best to salvage the monsters' reputations. Alphys's testimony especially, was used against them. They were arrested, pronounced "guilty of abhorrent and grotesque crimes". To which Sans nearly shrugged his shoulders and plainly stated that the case was "rigged."

Their punishments were as follows: Undyne was deemed too dangerous for imprisonment, she was sentenced to be executed, her corpse property of scientific the community. Alphys was going to be a live test-subject for human experimentation, _poetic justice_ the court called it. Sans and Papyrus were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. And seeing as they were skeletons, and could not properly die, that would mean indefinitely. The rest of monsterkind were not allowed to even attempt migrating farther out than a few miles from the base of Mt. Ebott. The repercussions for such actions, unknown.

Of course, Undyne wasn't having it, and seeing as she was a dead-woman-walking anyway, took it upon herself to fight off the courtroom guards and allow the others to escape. Just as the trial was about to get bloody, Toriel intervened. She used her magic to protect the group and daringly offered herself to the humans on their behalf. The court greedily accepted the compromise of trading the monster queen in place of a few lowly subjects. But to Toriel's shock, Asgore then stood to shield _her._

With a heavy heart, Asgore made a dramatic confession. It was his fault, and his fault _alone_ that the monsters were free and the children were dead. The others had no blood on their hands, but were merely victims of circumstance.

The court appeared intrigued, but not satiated. They demanded blood, they demanded justice. War was once again declared against the monsters.

The last thing his people needed was another war. The King and judge locked eyes, then Asgore went cold. He stood tall, projected his voice and without breaking eye-contact, promised to the judge that he possesed "an offer he couldn't refuse." Taking the bait, the guards were called back and the great doors were opened.

For the sake of peace, Asgore was ripped from Toriel's arms, she was distraught, but he did not resist. The King of Monsters would bear the brunt of everyone's sins. Right before he was taken into custody, he took Toriel's hands and whispered into her ear one last time, "I love you."

The following morning, the entire monster race, along with a good amount of human spectators witnessed the public execution of their king. At the crack of dawn, atop a steep hill, all eyes and necks were strained to watch their once mighty king sink to his knees and bow his head with his arms tied behind his back. Even though against the rising sun he was visible as just a black silhouette- he still exuded awe and regal composure. There was the raising of a heavy blade, a swift movement downward, and the deafening cries of both monster and human alike as Asgore's limp body slumped into the grass, the dust scattered by a crossing breeze.

Not even an hour after the beheading, Mt. Ebott was subject to the human purge. Now without their leader, the monsters were unorganized and defenseless. Military squadrons came in waves. First it was teargas unleashed upon the unsuspecting mourners. The SWAT team, equipped with shields and nightsticks rallied the monsters back to the mountain, intending to separate them from their human allies, who were being chased and arrested. In anguish, many monsters began to fight back with their magic.

The humans responded with gunfire. In that instance everyone scattered in terror. Children were yanked from their mother's arms, husbands torn from their wives, brothers and sisters rounded up and separated, fleeing people were tackled and forced to the ground, those who showed hesitance or resistance were not given that luxury; they were beaten and tased, others trampled from the stampeding herd of panicked innocents. Masses of people-a few unlucky humans and most of the monsters- were herded and pushed towards the slaughter. The Royal Guard messily assembled and fought valiantly under Undyne's command, though this time they saved their mercy only for their own kind, against Toriel's wishes.

So many lives were lost.

The settlements were burned down, the trees toppled and the earth ripped from the ground. Mt. Ebott was ablaze in ash and blood. The survivors were rushed underground, the settlements evacuated and the brave few who chose to stand and fight were left behind. The rampage followed them to the portal's entrance.

With that last of Toriel's strength, and the combined magic of the representative group, a new seal was formed. But this time, the barrier was not just protecting the underground, but the entire mountain. The great magic pushed the attackers away, and Mt. Ebott was encased in a massive protective shroud, bigger and stronger than the previous spell before. The spell's perimeter engulfed the mountain, the underground, and even the pillaged settlements stretching beyond the base. Toriel was going to give her people the opportunity to feel the sun and air even if they could never leave the mountain. It was their right.

And just like that, it was over.

The last three months after the battle were spent tending to their dead, constructing shrines and salvaging whatever they could find from the cinders of their settlements. The assailants in the meantime, bitter and hateful, mined a chasm around the mountain, one they were still working on to this day. They mined a great pit that stretched miles down, above it there stood an absurdly high wall, composed of cement and steel, decorated with spikes and barbed wire.

Toriel nearly died after almost drying herself up from the monstrous amount of magic she expended. She has spent most of her time bedridden, tended by the capital's best doctors. Once she was well enough to walk around, she insisted that she be left alone and retreated to her home in the ruins. (Only the gang and her loyal entourage of Froggits knew The Queen, even now, had a secret home there.) She was unable to perform any magic, and she did not know how long it would take for her strength to return.

As for the residents of the underground… They no longer wished to live on the surface. Most monsters despise the human race now, and wish to never see or hear from them again. Those who lost their loved ones are reluctant to rebuild their settlements, even though the land is now their own and there is no longer a possibility of attack. There still remains many injured and dying, and sorrow has overcome the kingdom.

"So there arises the confounding matter of your arrival, my child. That is, how were you able to get past the barrier?"

But Toriel's eyes were not to Frisk, they were directed towards Sans. The skeleton yawns and stretches in his seat, then scratches the back of his skull. Silence…

A few more tense moments of utter quiet and he finally speaks. "your spell isn't finished."

"What?!" Toriel rises from her chair in shock.

"hey, don't panic. any living thing within the barrier cannot get out, and any living thing outside the barrier cannot get in. there isn't even any wi-fi."

Toriel looks mindful. "Then how did you?"

"it's obvious. any _living_ thing. haven't you noticed that rain still passes through?"

"Yes. The sun shines and the wind blows."

"that's great and all, but a nice tan isn't worth being defenseless. once the humans figure it out, we'll be _fried._ "

Recognition sparks in Toriel's face. He says the words for her. "that's right, objects can pass through. and we've seen up close and personal what bullets do to monsters."

She falls into her seat, a hand to her head. "I am such a fool."

"no worries, we can fix it. but we'll need everyone's magic again, and we'll need frisk."

"Frisk?"

Frisk zips their head towards Sans, confused but intrigued.

"all we need is some of that human **determination**." He closes his eye sockets. But when they open, the white orbs are no longer there, the sockets are black and empty. "the real issue is, _will you survive another spell?_ "

Toriel's expression becomes grave. "I may be unable to cast magic now, but when the time comes, I am ready to die for my people. As our valiant king has before me."

Sans kept the thought to himself. " _you never stopped caring for him, did you tori?"_

The white orbs return. "eh. lighten up. i didn't say you had to kill yourself. just make sure you're strong enough when you decide to do it. i don't think frisk would appreciate it very much."

She remembers the young child in the room and looks to them apologetically. Frisk is rushed off to bed. They doen't argue, but they do not manage to fall asleep after being tucked in. Frisk lays in bed eavesdropping while the two continue to discuss the seal.

"So how would Frisk's influence affect the seal?" she asks.

"you've seen it for yourself, the kid has done the impossible before."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"you remember the original barrier."

"Of course, we all do."

"no, tori. you were there."

She saddens at the sound of that.

"ever wonder how _humans_ were able to use a _spell_ to lock us away under this mountain for so long?"

"I... I never gave that much thought." She admitted rather guiltily.

"history says long ago there existed two races. humans and monsters. but then the two races fought in a great war. the humans were victorious and used a magic spell to seal the monsters underground."

Toriel looked lost. "Exactly. But what point are you-?"

"it's a scientific fact that only monsters can use magic. so... if monsters have magic and humans do not, and history says that humans used a spell to seal us underground... what could that possibly mean?"

"Are you implying that one of us betrayed our own kind?!" Toriel shouts, slightly offended.

"it's not implied. it's the truth."

Toriel is speechless.

"makes sense you wouldn't know. you were against the war from the get-go, so i'm gonna assume you were rarely involved. but yeah, undyne heard it from asgore himself. they didn't engage in a soul merge, but some dupe poured all of their magic into a staff that the humans used to cast us away after our surrender. it would draw power directly from them, as if they were a battery." He rolls his orbs, "sucker didn't realize that they were being double-crossed. _of course_ the humans abused the powers of the staff and exhausted its magic. the monster died the moment the barrier was formed."

Toriel walks over to Sans sat in her armchair. "But what monster could have possibly been powerful enough to create the barrier by themselves?"

Sans shakes his skull. "don't know who did it, but the humans weren't shy about bragging where their magic scepter came from. i was told the scepter crumbled to dust after the spell was cast."

"And you are certain that this monster perished?" Toriel says skeptically.

"they found the dust." Sans assured.

"I see..." She trailed off.

"all i'm sayin is we don't have to fear them any more than we already do. what happened during those days wasn't real, it was a double-cross. humans don't have magic, they have guns. but..." He paused. "humans are strong. you want a perfect seal? you need frisk."

Toriel blinks a few times. "You've gotten this all down to an exact science, haven't you?"

He rests his skull on his boney hand. "not really. just have a lot of free time."

"But we do not wish to formulate an exact replica. The original barrier allowed things to get in, but not get out. Our current situation is more ideal."

"yep." He agrees.

"So what we need to do is add a little more to the spell, so that we keep our protection without further limiting our freedom."

"yep." He nods.

"And with Frisk's innocent heart, we would not have to worry about the spell going awry and turning on us."

"yep." He repeats.

"Well, isn't that convenient?"

"nope." He deadpans.

"No?" She blinks.

"nope. it's not. if it was, we could do it right now and not risk killing anybody. but right now we have to wait until everyone is ready. and once it's done, there will never be a chance of destroying the barrier again. **ever.** "

"Our freedom will be just an illusion. Still trapped, but in a bigger cage."

"a nicer cage." He points out.

"And you are willing to live like this?" She worries.

He closes his eye sockets. "doesn't matter to me."

Toriel looks off into the distance. "I can't just go and suddenly imprison my people. We must seek council."

Sans sits up in his seat. "if i were you, i'd focus on getting better first. you don't want to start a riot. why don't you spend this time with frisk? take a few naps. tell a couple of bad jokes..."

The two of them stop talking and focus their attention to the flickering flames of the fire.

"Sans…" The skeleton opens one socket at the sound of his name. "You must have been preparing yourself for months now. We were all drained of our magic, and though everyone else but myself has recovered, their powers are still not fully restored. That includes your own."

He says nothing.

"You risked your life to bring Frisk here for our sake, and I haven't thanked you for all you have done."

The skeleton chuckles. "i'm no hero."

"Oh? What was your true motive then?"

He grins childishly. "you _really_ wanna know why i brought frisk back?"

Toriel returns the gesture. "And why is that?"

"because i was feeling _**bonely.**_ "

The two erupt into a series of unflattering snorts.

In the morning, Frisk is awoken to the buttery fragrance of pancakes. They hurriedly wash themselves in the restroom and follows the scent into the kitchen.

"Good morning, little one." Toriel ruffles Frisk's hair. "Seat yourself at the table, breakfast is ready."

Frisk heads to table but Toriel stops them as they pull out their chair.

"Oh, before you sit down and eat, would you please wake Sans? I made an especially tall stack for him."

Atop the table stands a proud pile of steaming pancakes. Its golden majesty makes Frisk stop to admire it in awe. One could almost swear there was the chorus of singing angels for a moment. She walks over to the hefty skeleton slouched in an armchair, fast asleep with a fuzzy blanket draped over him.

Frisk gently shakes him by his shoulder, but the skeleton does not budge. Frisk delicately removes the blanket, but still he remains, firmly asleep, snoring slightly. They try tickling the skeleton, but he only brushes them off and rolls over to the side, insistent on remaining asleep. After staring at him for a moment, unsure of what to do next, Frisk totters over to the table and retrieves the mighty stack of pancakes. Unsteadily Frisk wobbles over to the snoring skeleton and tries the lift the fragrant stack to where his nose should be. The plate proves to be too heavy for Frisk's little arms to hold up much longer, and the stack leans to side, out of control. Just as they shut their eyes, anticipating the loud shattering of porcelain and Toriel's concerned shout- a strong, boney hand lifts up the plate, giving it balance again.

With only one sleepy socket open, Sans stares down at Frisk, who freezes in place. Half-asleep, he lifts it up from underneath their arm and flips the plate and pancakes over his shoulder with a lazy back toss. The plate lands with a rattle, dead center of the table, and the individual pancakes land one on top of the other, perfectly erect on the plate. Amazed, Frisk turns to Sans. He softly mutters "…kobe." before readjusting himself on the armchair to return to sleep.

With that, Frisk decides it is not a clever idea to wake Sans from his slumber and drapes the blanket over him once more before taking their own seat at the table. They quietly enjoy a short stack with gooey, sweet syrup. Toriel is still in the kitchen, only emerging to place more delicious pancakes on the table, and Frisk wonders just how many stacks of pancakes one woman needs to cook for three people? As Frisk reaches for their glass of orange juice, there is a loud "BANG!" Someone bursts through the front door and sprints into the living room.

"SANS! ARE YOU PERHAPS HERE?"


	4. Chapter 4

Papyrus loudly yells into the living room, disturbing the morning peace.

His attention immediately turns to the table. "OH MY GOD!" Papyrus rushes up to table, Frisk braces for impact. "PANCAKES!" He happily grabs a chair and sits patiently, not even a foot away from Frisk, fork and knife in hand.

Toriel approaches him with a smile. "Good morning, Papyrus. You said you were looking for Sans?"

"HELLO YOUR MAJESTY, YES I AM LOOKING FOR MY BROTHER, BUT PERHAPS I COULD PARTAKE IN SOME OF THESE PANCAKES TO GIVE ME THE STRENGTH TO CONTINUE THE SEARCH?"

There is a loud yawn and some grumpy grumbling from behind the armchair. "no need bro, i'm over here." Sans lazily waves a boney hand, then lets it drop to land on the armrest.

"SANS!" Papyrus rushes from his seat to lift his brother from the armchair and into a ferocious hug. "SANS. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, YOUR MAGINIFICENT BROTHER, HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU FOR FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT! WHEREVER DID YOU GO?"

He points back his boney thumb in Frisk's direction. "roadtrip. see? i even brought back a souvenir."

Papyrus looks in the direction where he is pointing. His jaw drops and his eyes boggle incredibly. "OH MY GOD! FRISK!" Papyrus drops Sans on the ground with a hard "Thud!" Which is a long way down considering Papyrus is absurdly tall, while Sans is rather short.

"…ow." He announces to no one in particular.

Frisk is scooped up into a bone-crushing embrace. "WHEN DID YOU GET HERE? WE HAVE ALL BEEN SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU, EVEN SOMEONE AS STEELED AS THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

All Frisk can do is let out a pitiful wheeze as the air is squeezed out of their lungs.

"HEY PAPYRUS! Wait up! Don't you know that Alphys can't keep up?" Undyne's voice rings through the hall away from the living room. She sprints down the hallway and tramples over Sans before skidding to a stop.

"oof!" He puffs against the impact of her foot against his ribs,

"Hey, did I step on Sans? Oh well. Papyrus, I TOLD YOU to wait for us-!" She cuts short whatever else she intended to say when she spots the tiny, red-faced figure trapped in Papyrus's arms.

"Frisk!" Undyne shouts.

"UWAAAH!" Papyrus is grabbed by his skull and lifted up, then with the other arm she snatches Frisk from his grasp.

"I can't believe it! What the hell took you so long?" Undyne smiles.

She unceremoniously tosses Papyrus out the room. "GAAAAH!" The buzzer scores full points for a perfect landing into the kitchen trash can.

Frisk is noogied mercilessly by Undyne. "Fuhuhuhuhu! This is awesome!"

"Welcome everyone, breakfast is ready to be served if you're hungry." Toriel smiles.

"I'd love some grub."

"Oh sorry, no grubs today. But I have plenty of snails."

"Nah, pancakes are good. But hey, if we're all gonna hang out today, I can make spaghetti for dinner!"

"OH, BUT ALLOW ME!" Papyrus's voice echoes in the trashcan as he hops to the table. "SPAGHETTI IS THE GREAT PAPYRUS'S SPECIALTY."

"We can both make the spaghetti, Toriel shouldn't be doing all of this cooking in her condition anyway." She cackles.

The eyes poking out of the trash can turn to Toriel. "INDEED. YOU NEED YOUR REST. FEAR NOT, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM A MASTER CHEF." Undyne smashes her fist to close the lid of the trash can. "YAAH!"

"Don't sweat it, Papyrus and I got it. You might want to locate your nearest fire extinguisher though."

Toriel lets out a nervous laugh. "O-oh. That's quite alright, I like to cook everything myself."

Undyne shrugs. "Your loss."

Toriel lifts a finger warily. "Now, if you would please put Frisk down…"

Undyne tilted her head to the child she had slung over hip like a handbag. "Oh yeah. Hey kid, why didn't you speak up?" Frisk is thrust to the other side of the table, landing loudly on the seat opposite of Undyne. Toriel takes her seat next to Frisk, worry all over her face.

"Let's eat!" Undyne cheers.

But before they can dig in, a puffing voice calls out. "*Pant*Pant* Undyne? *Pant* P-papyrus? Where did you go? A-are you in Toriel's house?" Alphys is the only one who has the mind to knock first.

"Come in." Toriel welcomes.

"Hurry up, noob!" Undyne calls over her girlfriend.

"Here? W-whoah!" Alphys trips over Sans who was still lying immobile on the floor.

"…"

"Uh. Whoops! Sorry Sans! What are you doing on the floor?"

"…"

"Are you hungry?" Toriel offers sweetly.

"Huh? Oh. Yes please. Are those pancakes?"

"Indeed. They're fresh, come help yourself."

Alphys squeezes herself between Papyrus and Undyne. "Papyrus? Is that you in the trash can?"

"IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, FEEL FREE TO VISIT ME ANYTIME."

"Um… Okay… I guess we could go to the dump-" But then Alphys recognizes a familiar shock of messy brown hair. "N-no way. Is that Frisk?" Toriel slides the mountain of pancakes to the side so that Alphys may get a better view. She gasps. "You really are here! I-I'm so happy to see you." Frisk waved a greeting from across the table. "Is this why you called everyone over?"

"Yes. Sans brought Frisk back."

"SANS?!" The rowdy group hollers at the same time.

All eyes are glued to the trampled skeleton laying spread-eagle on the floor.

"sup."

"But how did you? Get past the barrier?" Alphys asked, unbelieving.

He shrugs. "i cheated."

"Bullsh-"But then Undyne caught a glimpse of Toriel's glare. "Uh, um. Bullshark! B-bullshark... ANYWAY. How did _you_ out of all people find a way out? You're nothin but a-"

 _ **"lazybones?**_ " Sans grins devilishly at the many groans emitting from the table.

Toriel commands the attention of the room. "Everyone please. I'm sure you all have many questions. But let us eat, and I will explain it to you over breakfast." She turns to Sans. "Sans. Do you want to join us up here?"

"i'm kinda comfy down here now. feel free to toss me a couple hundred pancakes."

Papyrus reaches his long arm out of the can to grab a pancake a throws it to Sans, where it plops on top of his face. Sans does not move, he remains there, seemingly content.

Toriel explains to the group how Sans was able to find a flaw in the barrier and use it to sneak off and rescue Frisk. She also tells them what must be done to ensure their kind never has to face conflict with the humans again.

"BUT WHY DID YOU NOT BRING ME ALONG, BROTHER?"

Sans sits up, the pancake disappearing to _God-knows-where_ as it slides into his mouth. "too much work."

"WHAT?" Papyrus shouts.

"But you could've told any us, especially me." Undyne frowns.

"i forgot."

"HOW COULD YOU FORGET THE GREAT PAPYRUS?!"

"i dunno."

Alphys speaks up. "Well, I g-guess it doesn't matter anymore. Frisk is here now, and we're all safe."

Undyne huffs. "Yeah. Whatever. So what's the game plan? When and how are we gonna perfect the barrier?"

The group gasps at Undyne. "You're okay with leaving the world to the humans?" Alphys asks.

"Pfft. After what I've seen… If they want it that badly, they can have it. Screw them."

"B-but, I thought you were carrying the weight of everyone's hopes and dreams! I-isn't that what were you fighting for?" Alphys says, completely dumbstruck.

Undyne says nothing, she closes her eyes and breathes out slowly.

"I TOO, WOULD HAVE TO AGREE WITH MASTER UNDYNE." The heads turn to Papyrus. "THOUGH IT PAINS ME TO KNOW I WILL NEVER RIDE MY FANCY CAR DOWN THE SUNNY ROAD AGAIN, SUCH A THING IS LITTLE TO PAY FOR THE COST OF PEACE."

"Oooh..." Now they're staring at Alphys.

"He right's... I have to admit, I'll miss the anime." She sighs. "And the larping, and gamestop, and comicon!" She has to compose herself for a second. "But I have hundreds of videos in the dump that I haven't watched yet. And I have… You… U-Undyne…"

Her girlfriend blushes, trying to hide her cheeks behind an enormous grin.

"Then it is agreed. We shall leave the rest of the world to the humans. I suppose the people will have to suffice with the mountain." Toriel announces glumly.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Toriel. To be honest, they probably won't take it that hard." Undyne responds.

Toriel looks up at her.

"We lost a lot of good people, and for what? NOTHING. That's what! The land they gave us? All trash! The humans wrecked the rest of the world anyway, no one wants anything to do with them anymore."

Toriel withdraws into herself, lost in thought.

"So that's that. Looks like you're stuck with us forever kid. Come drop by my place sometime, it's not on fire anymore." Undyne rises from the table.

"Where are you going?" Her girlfriend asks.

"To train. Gotta get my strength back in preparation for the ritual."

"UNDYNE. TAKE ME WITH YOU." Papyrus begs.

"Fine, sure, but you better be ready for me. Otherwise you're cruisin for a bruisin." She exits the house.

"NYEH HEH HEH HEH! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL NOT BE SO EASILY DISCOURAGED." He rushes after her.

"I guess I should be going too. If they're going to train, they'll need first aid, and I think I've got a lot of researching ahead of me." Alphys politely excuses herself and heads in their direction.

Sans finally rises from the floor. "guess i'll head home."

"Wait." Toriel speaks up. "Forgive me for relying on you yet again, but do you have any idea of what we should do?"

"don't see why you're askin me."

"For now we are safe, but that is because the humans are ignorant to our vulnerability. Once they decide to experiment, we'll be in grave danger."

"there's nothing we _can_ do." Sans says bluntly.

"Nothing at all?"

"nuh-uh. this is as good as we've got it. if they decide to attack, we're still safe down here. it'll wreck the pretty mountain view, but we'll survive." He retrieves his hoodie that was drying by the fireplace and slips it on. With his hands rightly placed in his pockets, Sans heads for the door.

"Sans…" He stops. "Will the people truly be happy this way? Knowing that we will consciously trap them to this place until the end of time? They've desired their liberation for so long. Think of all the broken promises..."

His answer is empty. "we've been underground forever. the _only reason_ we were unhappy is because we knew there was a bigger world out there. but then we got to see it for ourselves... and it sucked." Staying for not a moment longer, Sans exits and shuts the door.

"It's just you and me now, my child." Toriel addresses to Frisk, who looks overwhelmed by the massive load of information. "After hearing all of that, I'm sure you probably feel a bit lost. But fear not, little one. For I will take good care of you. Let us be at ease that the clouds will clear over time."

Frisk and Toriel pick up the mess left behind by their noisy guests, as they are washing dishes together, Toriel raises a question.

"By the way. We have not discussed the matter of your education. Tell me where you last left off in school, and we will pick up from there."

Frisk frowned in dismay, there would be no escaping school after all.


	5. Chapter 5

It took the last four months of the year for Toriel to regain her strength. In the meantime, Frisk adjusted easily to living in Toriel's house. Their friends visited only every so often, as they were too preoccupied with honing their skills for the seal. Only Sans and Undyne were allowed to breach the barrier, because he still had to show her how to do it.

Undyne had spent weeks bulking her muscle and mentally preparing herself for the ordeal of testing the barrier. She was armored and equipped for a strenuous and painful experience.

So she was equally surprised and pissed to find out that Sans uncovered the fatal flaw purely by coincidence, as one day he just so happened to be skipping rocks down a stream, when one particular stone he flung too hard had gone farther than expected and effortlessly slipped past the spell.

Frustration aside, Undyne and Sans engaged in night-raids. Slipping past the barrier to collect information and map out the area. (Sans however, couldn't resist swiping a churro or ten from a local eatery.) A month into Frisk's return to the underground, they had news to share:

There was a world-wide announcement regarding the conflict between monsters and humans. Apparently before his death, the late King Asgore signed a treaty on behalf of the monster race that in exchange for his life, all previous sins would be forgiven, including the Old War. So long as they remained confined within the territory of Mt. Ebott, they would be left alone. The land would be deemed sacred, and no human would be allowed to encroach upon them. At least, that is what the media told the general public. The violent purge was covered up as an act of precaution and self defense. Made to look like the crowd gathered that day to witness Asgore's fate were _belligerent._ In addition, the previously mentioned treaty wasn't approved until _after_ Asgore's death, nor was it fully enacted until _after_ the slaughter ensued on the day of his execution. Furthermore, upon the discovery of Frisk's escape, the child was pronounced "unwell", "warped", and "corrupted", never allowed to return to the human world again. Rumor has it Frisk's family moved out of the country, adopting new names.

Frisk only felt a little bit guilty. They let them go through that hell, they did not fight it or offer some comfort. Frisk's former family did not know what to do, so they did nothing. At the end of the day they were alive and well, even if their lives became harder. So yes, it stung. But both Frisk and their parents would heal over time.

Fortunately for the monsters, the humans honored the other half of their bastard-promise. Perhaps they were too busy with the construction of their borders around Mt. Ebott to focus their funds on weaponry and spyware.

Undyne and Sans's midnight excursions were not only for reconnaissance, but for private opportunities to test the limits of the barrier. They came back one night especially confused after Undyne figured out the barrier was weaker in certain places. Like Sans had proven before, only living things were affected by the magic. But Undyne spotted a connection, these "bruises" in the barrier were places very close to Toriel's heart- in all of their hearts actually. Particularly in areas that involved a milestone for Frisk upon the previous journey. In areas Frisk hadn't explored, or did not spend too much time in, the barrier was air-tight. Undyne proved it by uprooting a tree and hurling it against the invisible barrier, which shattered to splinters. Sans pointed out that trees were living things too, and that's probably why using a tree as an example would not be very accurate. But she proved it again by hurling an even bigger tree that fazed through a "bruise" without so much as a broken branch. It was then concluded only non-sentient and inanimate objects could pass through. That is, anything without a soul.

Nothing else happened regarding their circumstance in the outside world. The humans were feverishly drilling and bulldozing to get their precious borders built. Petty propaganda was dripping through the media concerning the monster race. Mettaton's cable show was cancelled, his radio show banned, and as for the monsters that did not heed the late king's decree, those that defied him anyway and went on their own individual journeys to the human realm before Toriel sealed off the path Home- their fates are unknown.

The queen eventually addressed her people about the truth behind their dire circumstances. To her surprise, the monsters cried out in anguish, but not against her- against the humans. They wished to be rid of them for good, and were more than cooperative in terms of permanently living in their borders, so long as they never had to see another wretched human being for as long as they lived.

After what seemed like an eternity of preparation, the time had finally come to perfect the seal.

"All together now, I need your strength." Toriel commanded.

The group formed a circle around Frisk, interlocking their hands and focusing on their magic. They were standing in the midst of the still-scorched battlefields, where they had lost all hope not too long ago. This spell was going to be the greatest act of magic in this world's history. The main enforcers of the seal: Alphys, Papyrus, Undyne, Mettaton, Sans, Muffet (they had asked for her assistance since she was capable of producing a purple aura; the downside was: her services aren't cheap.) and Frisk were there to infuse the rawest power. But the rest of the monster kingdom was spilling a little bit of their own magic- not into the seal, but into the earth itself, to preserve its vitality for milennia to come. Toriel had seen the horrors of smog and waste; a good amount that still flowed into the underground's water system. If this land was all her people were going to get, it deserved to be unspoiled by outside influence.

A great, mystical light emitted from the queen. "Yes, it is working. Stay strong my friends."

The group held firm, despite the pain of their magic draining out of them. All that was left to complete the spell was for Frisk to offer their determination.

"Frisk, please lend us your power. Offer your heart to our people!"

Frisk completed the chain. They felt a spike of warmth in their chest, and saw a flicker of red. Then all around the auras of their souls became vibrant. Undyne's green, Sans's blue, Papyrus's cyan, Muffet's purple, Mettaton's yellow and Alphys's orange swirled around Frisk's red heart, mixing into an ecstasy of color. Their combined hearts shot high up in the air and spread far and wide over the kingdom, forming a visible shield around the land. Then in a blinding flash, the colors vanished, shot back into their hosts, and all that was left was the bright sky.

Frisk heard their friends around them collapse in exhaustion and agony, and right before their own vision faded, they smiled.

For deep down the child knew they had succeeded.

When the group awoke, at first they were skeptical. They could still feel the sun's rays of warmth, but when Undyne chucked a massive boulder and it shattered to teeny bits of rubble, there were cheers of triumph. Papyrus performed an especially funny jig and the group hollered with laughter. It wasn't the freedom they had hoped for, but free they still were. Free from subjugation.

Toriel, though weakened again, resumed her rightful place on the throne. She had fired Alphys from her previous position as Royal Scientist to due to the immoral experiments she and Asgore performed on their own kind. Alphys was still allowed her laboratory, and the building itself was converted into Mettaton's production studio, where he focused on lifting the spirits of the people underground. Undyne, stable as ever, remained in the Royal Guard, which although the threat of humans was now eliminated, still were needed for general police enforcement. Papyrus and Sans however, were now unemployed- seeing as their original duties involved capturing humans. Sans was perfectly happy as a no-good layabout, only working odd jobs here and there to make his fill. Papyrus earned his wages working at Grillby's. (Not cooking, God no, but he made an excellent bus-boy/waiter.) Occasionally, Mettaton would invite him over to act as comic relief for his show, but Papyrus still never gave up on earning his place amongst the ranks of Royal Guard.

As for young Frisk, Toriel, as expected, took on the additional role as their full-time guardian. Frisk received a splendid home-school education, and enjoyed many wacky adventures with their friends.

 _Nine years passed._


	6. Chapter 6

"Papyrus, you dunderhead! You can't bake spaghetti into a cake!"

"ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

"Not spaghetti-cake! Even _I_ wouldn't eat that!" Undyne insists.

"Umm. Is something burning?" Alphys shyly pokes her head into the kitchen.

"See?! Take that crap out of the oven!" She demands.

"BUT MASTER UNDYNE, I THOUGHT YOU SAID GRILL MARKS WERE THE SIGN OF INTENSE FLAVOR."

"I don't know _diddly-squat_ about girly, prissy, _baking!_ I only cook hearty dinners with PUNCH, with KICK, with FIERY PASSION!" She provides emphasis by punching out the glass of the oven door, kicking her foot _into_ the cake, and shaking it off to land into the trash can that she lit on fire not a moment ago.

"W-wait. Undyne, if you don't know a thing about baking, h-how are you going to m-make a cake?" Alphys stutters.

"Pfft. _You're_ the one that's gonna bake the cake. _I'll_ cook the birthday dinner!"

"W-w-w-what? I-I don't know how to cook _or_ bake!" Alphys panics.

"you're tellin me between the married couple here, neither of you know how to bake a cake?" Sans strolls in with a sweet-smelling box in his hand.

"Hey! I-I know how to make ramen." Alphys says sheepishly.

"BROTHER, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL DAY?"

Sans rolls his orbs in his eye sockets. "nowhere."

Undyne sniffs the air. "What have ya got there?"

"cake."

"YOU BAKED A CAKE BROTHER?!" Papyrus gapes.

"no."

"Oh. I guess that's for the best." Alphys wipes her brow in relief.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Undyne fumes.

Alphys shrinks and meekly retreats.

"BROTHER, YOU DID NOT HAVE TO SPEND YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY ON A BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR THE HUMAN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE ALREADY BAKED ONE SUCH MASTERPIECE." Everyone turns to the burning lump in the trashcan.

"it didn't cost me a thing." Sans grins.

"THEN HOW DID YOU ACQUIRE THE FUNDS BROTHER?" Papyrus wonders.

Sans is silent. Suddenly Papyrus jumps in alarm. "YOU WENT INTO THE COOKIE JAR!"

"don't know why we call it that when there are never any cookies in it."

The taller skeleton throws a little tantrum. "THAT MONEY IS SUPPOSED TO BE USED FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY!" Once again, Sans directs his eye orbs towards the flaming pile of ash in the smoking trash can. Pointedly, the fire-alarm goes off.

Alphys returns with a fire extinguisher and hastily douses the flames. Everyone is then covered in foam.

"I'll open a window." Alphys mentions before rushing off out of the kitchen.

"Eh. Saves me the trouble." Undyne heads after her wife.

Papyrus remains standing with a comical foam-beard, squinting at his brother.

"welp. guess we better head to toriel's." Sans says nonchalantly through his own foam-goatee.

"WAIT BROTHER." Sans turns around to address Papyrus. "WHERE IS YOUR GIFT FOR FRISK?"

"i got the cake didn't i?"

Papyrus walks over to his brother. "NO, BROTHER. YOU MUST BRING A GIFT THAT IS NOT THE CAKE."

"i'll give the kid a card."

"NO! YOUR CARDS ARE ALWAYS FILLED WITH AWFUL JOKES!"

"frisk doesn't seem to mind them."

"THAT IS BECAUSE THE HUMAN IS TOO KIND TO HURT YOUR FEELINGS BY TELLING YOU THEY ARE AWFUL." Papyrus whines.

The two skeleton brothers walk the snowy path towards the ruins. "SANS. I, THE GREAT AND GENEROUS PAPYRUS, WILL DELIVER THE CAKE TO FRISK. YOU MUST GO BACK AND FIND A PROPER GIFT."

"i've given the kid plenty of gifts."

"NO. YOU HAVE GIVEN THE HUMAN PLENTY OF PRANKS." Papyrus suddenly looks mindful. "WHY IS IT THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO PRESENT ME WITH A GIFT, BUT NOT THE HUMAN EVERY YEAR? TRULY I KNOW I HAVE MORE THAN EARNED IT, BUT THE HUMAN IS YOUR FRIEND TOO. YOU SHOULD NOT LET MY RADIANCE OUTSHINE THEM ON THEIR SPECIAL DAY." Perhaps to make a point, Papyrus pulls out a pair of sunglasses and places them on Sans. He does not argue about his new accessory.

"you like it when i get you gifts for your birthday."

"AND THE HUMAN WOULD NOT?"

"aw well, too late now."

"NO IT IS NOT."

"but it's too far."

"NO IT ISN'T.

"yes it is."

This goes on for the majority of the trip to the ruins. In truth, Papyrus made a fair point. Sans had not given Frisk a proper birthday present in all of the years they've lived underground. He always found one way to avoid it or another.

When Frisk turned eight, they were still under house-arrest at the time, so of course they could not celebrate their birthday- not that they knew when it was. Sans was more preoccupied with tirelessly challenging the limits of the barrier, until he could find a way out. Once he did, he devoted many months to locating Frisk, until he did find them, and witnessed their dire predicament. It awakened an anger like no other in him, and he would not rest until Frisk was safely returned underground with Toriel.

When the child turned nine, he was charged with the task of keeping Frisk away from home long enough for the others to set up the surprise party. Frisk caught on pretty quickly, seeing that Toriel was not very good at hiding her feelings. She kept asking Frisk what their favorite flavor of cake and ice cream was, whether or not they liked the color pink, and if loud noises "like for instance, those of popping balloons" frightened them.

Sans is equally not a very good liar. So he vaguely replied "no clue." as to the whereabouts of where everyone went on that day. The two of them went on a "search" for them, where Sans stalled by getting them "lost" in the snowy forest. Only until he "accidentally" found a way out, and "just so happened" to know a shortcut.

On the Frisk's thirteenth birthday, Sans avoided getting a gift by essentially salvaging the entire celebration. That particular year had been a disaster. Toriel baked a delicious cake, but Undyne spoiled it by trying to add a more "robust" flavor. Toriel baked another cake, but Papyrus ate it, thinking it was baked in his honor. Alphys had the bright idea of ordering a cake, but what came to them at the door was a "special delivery." A skimpy, flirty, mermaid-like monster with a rather large derriere wearing nothing but the frosting as her bikini. Toriel was having none of that.

Worse yet, while poor Toriel had to bake a third cake, the decorations were torn to shreds when Alphys tried to readjust Mettaton so he decorate at "mach speed" to make up for the lost time with the whole cake fiasco. Her tinkering backfired, and Mettaton went into a frenzy- flying, shooting lasers and missiles; thus, eradicating all of their hard work. Frisk would be back home from the errand they were sent on any second now, so while Papyrus and Alphys struggled to repair Mettaton after the major damage Undyne inflicted on him, Sans took the opportunity to decorate.

He didn't really decorate, per say; that would be far too much effort. No, he simply scrubbed the scorch marks off the ceiling and pushed a bookshelf in front of a Mettaton-shaped hole in the wall. Then he swept the floors, pulled the curtains over the shattered windows, and duct-taped the karate-chopped table that was split in half. Satisfied, he took a seat and waited for Frisk to return, Undyne already left to fetch them.

Toriel's cake was baked right on time, for as soon as Frisk opened the door, everyone shouted "Surprise!" and the celebration was saved.

For every other birthday before, after, and in between, Sans merely stuck with his signature jokes. Replacing the sugar with salt on one of those infamous birthday cakes, (of course, he had a replacement ready and nearby) gluing Frisk to the chair as they sat down at the table to enjoy their birthday dinner, topping another cake with candles that wouldn't blow out, filling the balloons with pudding instead of helium, etc. (Though how he got them to float still remains a mystery.) This year he had a card in his pocket, not wanting to be too predictable by sabotaging the party again. In front, it had a typical picture of party hats, balloons and a cake, but inside it read:

And that's exactly what it read. Nothing. For Sans was too lazy to write anything down in the card.

The ever-sweet and thoughtful Papyrus was worried for his brother, and for his human-friend Frisk. Why his brother acted so strangely around the human as of late, he could not fathom. But The Great Papyrus would not let his party-pooper brother spoil another birthday. No. He was already thinking of a replacement gift, which he would hide somewhere obvious for the human to find, and label the present in his brother's name as to spare the human's feelings. Sans would get a much-deserved chewing out later.

Papyrus checked his phone. According to the text messages, everyone else had already arrived. Perfect! For now, The Great Papyrus would be late, _fashionably_ late. Oh, how super cool and stylish he was, what a grand entrance he would make, the human must be anxious to see him! He had to hurry, for by now, Frisk was probably drenched in sweat from growing impatience.

Though he must not let it show, Papyrus was the one who was especially excited to see his friend again. Toriel had explained to Papyrus years ago that the human must spend copious amounts of hours a day participating in what she called "schoolwork". Oh, the tragedy! For now the human was deprived of time with The Great Papyrus! Not only that, but even _after_ the blasted "lesson" was learned for the day, the human had to undergo further torment- "homework" and "studying" that Toriel insisted was necessary to further instill the school-learning into the human's memory. But finally, as of only a few months ago, the human had finally completed their "curriculum" as Toriel called it. Frisk had at last "graduated" and was no longer required to be subject to the horrors of "education".

The skeletons entered the ruins, knowing the door had already been left open for them. Toriel may be the queen, but she only bothered to make trips to the castle for critical political matters and annual events. She could not bear to live in her former home, where she once had a husband, a son; was a wife and mother who belonged to a family. Toriel remains in her vacation-home, where she also lived out her self-inflicted exile whilst undergoing the divorce process with her late husband. (They never did get to file for it, they had only been living separately.) The former family spent fond summers away from the stresses of the crown here. But now, it had a new purpose. It was the home of her adopted child and herself.

They approached the home, Papyrus's colorful and large gift box in his arms, Sans with the cake and card. "WE HAVE ARRIVED EVERYONE!" Papyrus gleefully announced.

"About time, I oughtta make you run a thousand laps to get those skinny legs of yours moving faster." Undyne snarks.

"So glad you could make it." Toriel graciously welcomes.

"AH, MASTER UNDYNE. THAT WOULD BE REDUNDANT. I HAVE NO MUSCLES." Papyrus says as-a-matter-of-factly.

"how can a skeleton be skinny without any skin?" Sans snickered.

The fish-woman slaps her forehead for foolishly setting herself up for that one.

Just as Sans steps past his extremely tall brother, he nearly drops the cake on the ground, which would of ruined the pastry had it not been for Mettaton extending his robot-arm across the room to catch it.

"?!"

"Sans! You almost dropped the cake!" Alphys worries.

"Thank you Mettaton." Toriel says gratefully.

Mettaton safely places the cake on the table. "It was nothing darling." He winks. "Oh my! Is that you, Papyrus dear? I almost couldn't see you behind that _big package._ Let me help you with that, hmm?" He happily struts over to the tall skeleton.

"What was that about Sans?" Undyne wonders.

The shorter, stout skeleton is frozen. His eye sockets firmly fixed at the figure sitting at the center of the table.

"Sans!" Undyne shouts.

He breaks from his stupor. "woops. butter-bone-fingers." He quickly replies, averting his orbs from the group. He nervously wipes his boney hands over his sweater for emphasis.

"Come join us then." Toriel invites him over.

After the presents are all accounted for, and the food properly set. Everyone stands from their seats at the table, and they badly sing the Happy Birthday Song (excluding Toriel, who sings exceptionally well). Sans remains silent, a cold sweat forming on the back of his skull; a blue blush tinting his cheek bones. " _looks like the kiddo… isn't really a 'kid' anymore…"_ He observes while standing and staring next to Frisk.

"…Happy Birthday to youuuuu!~" The group finishes. There are cheers and applause, and Frisk is encouraged to make a wish and blow out the candles. All eyes are on Sans, to make sure there is no funny-business.

Right as Frisk is serving the very first slice of cake, Sans interrupts. "wait."

Everyone stops to look at Sans. "don't forget to say **bone** -appetite." He winks.

Frisk stifles their quiet laughter and Toriel lets out an honest chortle. The rest of the group expectedley groans.


	7. Chapter 7

The party is a huge success, and Frisk, though ever-silent, seemed to have a great time celebrating their seventeenth birthday. Papyrus constructed a rather large puzzle for Frisk to play with- which is what was in the box. Unfortunately, what he considered a "premium puzzle" was really a simple game of Jenga with the use of giant blocks. Mettaton gave them a VIP pass to his studio and set. Undyne got them a toy sword and horned helmet, and Alphys gave a rather frilly, lolita-esque dress, complete with shoes and bows. Toriel, being ever-so-sensible, knitted a set of gloves, a hat and a scarf- knowing that Frisk frequented Snowdin.

Seeing as Undyne and Alphys live together, and Mettaton agreed to take Papyrus home later on that night, Sans was walking through the snow by his lonesome-self.

It was that feeling again.

This is why he could never get a gift, he was too paranoid. He was too afraid they wouldn't like it and he would screw everything up. That's why he couldn't look them in the eye for the past year without getting dizzy, or why he always felt the need to distance himself like at the party, otherwise he might pass out right then and there. It's so much easier to just be "that funny guy". The kid knew how to take a joke in stride. They never got mad when he would make them sit on a whoopie cushion, or spill the whole ketchup bottle on their burger, or leave an ink mark on their eye from a booby-trapped telescope. Heck, they even laughed at his puns!

Frisk was Toriel's kid alright, they both shared his under-appreciated sense of humor. At least that, he knew would make them happy. And it made him feel special, because no one could tell jokes like he can.

But he almost dropped the cake, then stood there, gawking, like a doofus. If it weren't for the sunglasses Papyrus had given him, everyone might have caught the look on his face.

He could only bear to get close to Frisk when he was telling jokes, or pulling a prank, or when Papyrus was there to dominate the conversation. When he had something to _hide behind._ Otherwise _that feeling_ would bubble up.

Sans couldn't pinpoint what it was. For some reason, it reminded him of Papyrus. Sans cared for Frisk, he wanted them to be safe, to mess with them a little bit, like he always has done for his brother. But then there was this side to it that did _not_ remind him of how he felt about his brother…

When he and Frisk ere ever _alone_ he couldn't help but clam up, feel his bones start to rattle and his teeth chatter. Sans couldn't tear his eye sockets away from the human. It bugged him to no end. Then Toriel or Papyrus would usually show up, and instead of being his usual carefree self, he would get annoyed whenever their time together was cut-short.

That wasn't like him. Since when did Toriel or his brother _ever_ get on his nerves? They never did anything wrong... It would only get worse. He'd get overprotective whenever they hung out in public; the same protectiveness he felt whenever Mettaton got too fresh with his brother. And that prickly feeling in his joints when he saw Undyne and Alphys share a kiss. The instinctive need to shove his hands further into his pockets whenever Toriel got to hold Frisk's hand. It wasn't fair! But wait? What's not fair? There was nothing about what they were doing that he was entitled to.

What the heck was it about the kid a year or two ago that got him so riled up? Sans didn't know what he wanted, but he knew what he didn't want. And that was for some stupid _feeling_ to ruin the easy life he had. " _i need a burger."_ So before heading straight home, Sans would make a quick stop to Grillby's first.

As usual, Sans strolled into his favorite restaurant.

"Yo Sans!"

"Hey, Sans!"

"Whattup Sans my man?"

"not much." He casually greeted. Now feeling more at ease, Sans made his way to the counter. Right as he passed a booth with a single person sitting in it, he stopped dead in his tracks, backtracked without bothering to turn around, and looked to his right.

There was Frisk, sitting at a table, alone, quietly munching on a burger and fries. Before he could speak-not that he had any nerve to-a mouth-faced monster called out to Sans.

"Hi, Sans. You here to treat the human for their birthday?"

Frisk looked up expectantly, all eyes and innocence.

 _"i've been called out!"_ He panicked a little. "s'pose i could." He coolly replied.

But Frisk shakes their head. Instead, the kid pats the table, inviting him to sit in the booth. Sans feels his knees starting to knob.

The gaping-maw monster smiles. "Actually, I was gonna tell you 'no need'! Cuz, Grillby says it's on the house, since it's their birthday and all. Thought I should tell you cuz you treat the kid a lot."

"cool." Sans answers plainly, sitting himself opposite of Frisk.

"what brings you here so late kid?" Sans asks innocently.

But Frisk doesn't answer, only folds their arms and makes a small frown.

"huh? oh. guess i shouldn't be calling you that anymore." Sans corrects himself.

They nod. Frisk points to their burger and back to him.

"do i want anything? well… if you insist." Who was he to pass up free food?

They motion for Grillby to come over, and gestures for another order to be brought to the table. A couple of minutes in silence later, and the flaming man sets a hot plate of fries with a steaming burger on the table.

"thanks Grillby." Sans doesn't forget to say.

The two are eating in silence for a short while, until Frisk gets bored. They tap the table with their fingers, eyes straight into Sans's sockets. Frisk does a "go on" motion.

 _"think fast!"_ Sans told himself internally. "so hey. wanna hear a joke?"

Frisk perks up instantly.

"of course you do. *ahem* what's a skeleton's favorite instrument?"

Frisk rest their elbows on the table.

"a trom **bone.** " There is a "buduh-tss!" in the distance. Frisk giggles cutely.

Seeing them laugh gives Sans more confidence to speak. "what's a skeleton's _second_ favorite instrument?"

All smiles, Frisk shrugs their shoulders.

"A xylo **bone.** " Again, the comical sound effect plays from across the restaurant. Frisk is covering their mouth now, trying to control the giggling.

Sans feels on top of the world. "what do skeletons order at restaurants?"

They're too busy suppressing giggles to answer.

"spare ribs."

"Buduh-tss!" At last Frisk breaks, letting out an honest, jovial burst of laughter.

Extremely proud of himself, and refreshed from hearing the most beautiful sound that has ever graced his ear drums, Sans elects to let Frisk finish their food before telling any more jokes. Having already finished his own burger, he reaches for his fries. Only after eating a couple, he doesn't seem too impressed.

"kiddo."

Frisk raises an eyebrow.

"sorry. _frisk._ mind passing me the salt?"

Frisk happily obliges. Sans gratefully takes the shaker from their hand, but when he tips it to add the salt to his food….

The cap falls onto his plate, and the entire contents of the salt shaker spills over his french fries.

Sans is speechless. His expression frozen from utter shock. "…"

Frisk on the other hand, satisfied, waves goodnight to him and walks out of the restaurant with a triumphant grin.

Sans watches them leave with a dreamy sigh. The bright, blue blush spreads across his cheekbones, and his eye orbs return in the shape of tiny hearts.

 _"…i think i'm in love."_


	8. Chapter 8

Sans had at last come to grips with his fleeting feelings for Frisk. Finally, it all made sense.

He cursed himself for being so slow. How could he have not realized? If he could spot Alphys's crush on Undyne not even two minutes after first meeting her, how could he not detect his own romantic affections? Now he knew he at least wasn't developing an allergy to humans. It doesn't matter that he figured it out so late in the game, what matters is that he knows what those feelings are now.

What matters more is that they were growing ever-so-fast.

Once Sans felt the clarity of his mind, the enigma that had so simply presented itself, the truth hit him like a ton of bricks. He had a crush on Frisk. A MAJOR, crush on Frisk… Alas, what he could do? Pursue? Ignore? Deny? He did not wish to confine his secret in anyone, not even Toriel, for as far as anyone else was concerned, that was her child. Sans could _not_ confide in his best friend that he had _the_ _hots_ for their _kid._

This was going to be a problem, Sans felt it in very depths of his bones. There were so many things he wanted to do, wanted to say. But there were just as many reasons to not say or do them.

Frisk is a human. Sans had no qualms with the human race, even after the cruelty he faced. His "beef" was with the violent and ignorant people that slaughtered his kind and ruined any chance of living above ground. He knew not all humans were bad, Frisk was a shining example of that. Sans had met decent humans on the surface, though Frisk was by far his favorite.

No, it wasn't racism that was the issue. It was the nature of being human. The syndrome of aging. Sans himself was not alive during the Old War, he was born long after. The skeleton was only a teenager when he met Frisk, now in his late twenties. The age gap did not bother him so much either, though it would raise a few eyebrows. It was the unjust fact that humans grow old and die, while monsters do not. Not unless they create offspring that is. The monster child absorbs energy from the parent, which is what allows them to age. This continues until the parent is no more, only then will the child cease their own aging process.

Another issue also had to do with the vast differences between the two races. Sans is a skeleton! Frisk, is a squishy, fleshy human. Though Sans obviously found Frisk very attractive, how would they view him in return? Was it even possible for humans to find beings like him attractive? Would it repulse Frisk? He could not bear their rejection, especially on that level. Frisk liked him, but the reason they could not be together was because they would never find him handsome?

On the other hand, if he was able to develop an attraction, who's to say the opposite was not possible? This was not a case of necrophilia. Sans was a monster, not a corpse. He and Papyrus were not "human skeletons". This is why they could blink, talk, walk around, and make facial expressions- though those expressions were limited by the texture of their bones. Skeleton monsters had blood and sinews. The fluid kept in their marrow, very alive and fresh. The tendons tucked away safely from the surface, beneath their skulls and such. The "skeleton" of a skeleton monster acted more as an "exoskeleton" for the fragile meshes within. There was still a lack of all the internal organs humans possessed, but their anatomy acted more on a complex, atomic level. Even those bones were at the very least, ten times harder than human bones.

Though Papyrus liked to commonly joke about his clear lack of skin and muscle, still they had cartilage for the smooth movements of the joints. And yes, they have genitalia. No one would bother calling Sans and Papyrus "brothers" if they were not male. Of course, Sans resisted the urge to delve deeper into his thoughts about "that area", and using it, for that would not happen. It would be foolish to lust after Frisk.

Sans tossed and turned in his bed, irritance overpowering sleep. He groggily raises himself, clutching the sheets. "darnit." He whispers dragging himself out of bed to retrieve the only thing that would offer him solace: food.

Just as Sans is artfully crafting himself a fine tower of sandwiches, Papyrus enters the kitchen in his striped jammies and night hat. "*YAWN* BROTHER? WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP AT THIS HOUR?"

"makin a sandwich."

"ALWAYS WITH THE MIDNIGHT SNACKING. BROTHER, YOU WILL NEVER ACHIEVE A MODEL-ESQUE FIGURE LIKE MINE IF YOU CONTINUE TO GORGE YOURSELF AT NIGHT."

"i ain't _gorgin._ just grabbing some grub to help me sleep. what are _you_ doin up so late, huh?"

"WHY, I MERELY CAME HERE TO FETCH MYSELF A GLASS OF WATER."

"oh." Sans realizes.

Maybe he shouldn't be getting snippy with his brother.

Papyrus squints. "YOU ALWAYS GET SO CRANKY WHEN YOU'RE HUNGRY. I SUPPOSE THE WORLD-RENOWNED GOURMET PAPYRUS MUST COOK YOU UP A BOWL OF SPAGHETTI YES?"

Sans gets defensive. "i don't get cranky. and i don't need to eat all the time."

"YET HERE YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, PUTTING TOGETHER A DOZEN SANDWICHES."

Sans feels himself getting very hostile. "you callin me fat?"

"BROTHER, YOU MUST NOT BE SO SENSITIVE ABOUT YOUR WEIGHT-"

"cuz i'm not fat! i'm **big-boned.** " Yes, aside from the topic of Frisk, Sans's stature was the only thing that could set him off.

"BROTHER, WE ARE TWINS. AND YOU CANNOT DENY THAT YOU APPEAR FAR MORE-"

"listen, i _'m not fat!_ i'm heavy-set!"

"YES YOU _ARE_ QUITE HEAVY."

Sans drops his butter knife. "come at me, bro." He openly challenges.

Papyrus throws his head back in mocking laughter. "NYEH HEH HEHHH! YOUR MEMORY IS LACKING AS ALWAYS, SANS. YOU HAVE NEVER BESTED THE GREAT PAPYRUS IN BATTLE!"

Shockingly enough, this was true. Sans did not devote himself to training like Papyrus did every day, he had never gotten himself into a real fight- he never _had to._ Therefore, his STATS were all stuck at "1". So if Papyrus ever teased Sans about his size, the tussle would usually end in Sans's giving up. Besides, he could never _actually hurt_ his brother.

Sans fell for the taunt, and quickly surrendered only after a few minutes of wrestling; in the midst of it he came to his senses that his efforts were futile. Papyrus begins picking up his magical bones scattered about from the battle."I AM SORRY I HAD TO DO THAT TO YOU BROTHER. BUT ALAS, YOU LEFT THE GREAT AND MERCIFUL PAPYRUS NO CHOICE. I HOPE YOU HAVE LEARNED YOUR LESSON."

Sans returns to his plate of sandwiches a bit disheveled. "never stood a chance against you."

"OF COURSE NOT." Papyrus affectionately pats Sans on his skull. "NOW BE A GOOD LITTLE BROTHER AND EAT YOUR SANDWICHES, THEN STRAIGHT OFF TO BED! I KNOW THAT YOU ARE CRANKY WHEN YOU ARE SLEEPY OR HUNGRY. SO IT'D BE BEST NOT TO BE BOTH." With a victorious "NYEH!" Papyrus returns to his bedroom.

Late in the afternoon, Sans awakens, as usual. He heads downstairs to find his brother skittering about nervously. "OH ME! OH MY! OH NO!" Papyrus runs around, completely frantic.

"mornin' bro."

"SANS!" Papyrus notices. "IT IS NOT MORNING, IT IS TWO IN THE AFTERNOON. YOU OVERSLEPT AGAIN!"

He yawns. "i know. isn't it awful?"

His brother gasps. "WHY YES, IT IS. COULD IT BE THAT YOU HAVE FINALLY TURNED OVER A NEW LEA-"

"i missed breakfast."

"…"

"OH NEVER MIND! I HAVE OTHER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT!" The tall skeleton returns to his fretting.

"what's got your _bones in a pile,_ bro?"

"UGH! I CANNOT BEAR YOUR INSUFFERABLE PUNS AT THIS MOMENT!"

Sans drags his feet to approach his brother. "do me a favor and get me some free breakfunch from grillby's."

"HOW IS IT THAT ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS FOOD?!" That wasn't the only thing Sans was hungry for last night. He barely got any sleep over the meddling thoughts of a certain human.

"what if i said 'please'?"

"THE GREAT AND COURTEOUS PAPYRUS APPRECIATES YOUR MANNERS, BUT ALAS, I SHALL NOT BE GOING TO WORK TODAY."

Sans suddenly becomes wide awake. " _oh ho._ playing hooky? i know a few great spots where you won't get caught."

Papyrus stomps his foot repeatedly into the ground. "NO, NO, NO! I AM NOT A SLACKER LIKE YOU! I TOOK THE DAY OFF."

"you never take the day off. what's the occasion?"

The sassy skeleton strikes a signature pose, a bright glimmer in his eye. "DON'T YOU SEE, SANS? I, THE MAGNAMINOUS AND CHARISMATIC PAPYRUS HAVE A _DATE_ PLANNED TODAY! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Sans was overjoyed for his brother. "bro, you get all the babes."

"NYEH HEH HEH! WOULD YOU EXPECT ANY LESS FROM PAPYRUS? NOW AS YOU CAN SEE, I MUST SOMEHOW FIND A WAY TO FURTHER PERFECT THE PERFECTION THAT I ALREADY AM FOR MY SECOND DATE."

"second?"

Papyrus gushes incredibly. "YES, THE GREAT PAPYRUS MUST SOON EMBARK ON HIS SECOND DATE. THOUGH THIS TIME I HAVE REELED IN ANOTHER FISH WITH THE ROD THAT IS MY CHARM."

"why didn't it work out the first time?"

A bright red blush covers Papyrus's cheekbones, his eyes go all sparkly. "OH, WHAT A SHAME. THOUGH IT PAINS ME TO ADMIT IT, I'M AFRAID I AM A HEART BREAKER. YOU SEE, I DID NOT RECIPROCATE THE FIERY PASSIONS FROM MY NUMBER ONE FAN, FRISK!"

Glass shatters in the distance. " ** _what?_** "

Papyrus doesn't notice the dead gaze from his brother. "YOUR MEMORY WORRIES ME SOMETIMES. YOU WERE THERE, SANS. FRISK AND I WENT ON A STEAMY, PIPING HOT DATE, RIGHT HERE IN THIS VERY HOUSE."

Just as Sans felt the blood in his marrow start to boil, the memory resurfaces. "oh yeah."

"SEEING AS YOU ARE STILL HALF-ASLEEP, I WILL NOT STAY HERE A MOMENT LONGER. I HAVE ALREADY DABBED A SPECIAL, MTT-BRAND MANLINESS CREAM BEHIND MY EARS." Papyrus gleefully heads out the door. But a second later, he opens it again. "I DO NOT HAVE EARS." He realizes, the orbs in his sockets going walleye. He slams the door shut.

Sans stands in the middle of the living-room in a fuming daze. He's not sure what makes him angrier: that Papyrus is probably headed off to a date with _Mettaton_ , or that his dopey brother stole Frisk's first date from him.


	9. Chapter 9

"Ngaaahh!"

Today Frisk was hanging out with Undyne. That meant equipping their plastic helmet and sword and acting as her sparring partner. The dummy monster that usually stands in front of her house was off on medical-leave.

"Hah! "Yah!" "Guh!" Undyne grunted with each heavy swing Frisk could barely parry. "Maybe I should've given you a shield too." She pauses.

Frisk had only managed to survive this long because by now they were a professional at dodging monster attacks. Undyne thrusts her mighty spear into the ground. "Stop being a coward and fight me!" She demands. But Frisk stands there, unsure. "Listen Frisk, it's the same thing day after day. You need to _hit me._ You have extremely high DEFENSE but stupidly low ATTACK." Frisk vehemently disagreed.

Undyne's face goes straight. She intimidatingly towers over Frisk. "I know you're all for _mercy_ and _sparing_ your enemies, but what will you do if one day you fight a guy who just doesn't give up? Who no matter how many times you spare him, he just keeps coming back for more? If he will not rest until he kills you- what will you do then? Will you spend your entire life running and dodging?" Frisk directs their gaze to the floor, clearly torn.

"Me. I've made a lot of enemies." Then she grins mischievously. "But most of them are dead now!" She pulls her spear from the ground and resumes her battle stance. "So what I'm sayin is: your 'goody-goody-two-shoes' act won't rub off on everyone. You meeting us? That was lucky. But once you meet a _real_ , relentless killer, you'll need to be ready! So don't look at me like that, don't you know that by being Toriel's adopted kid, you're technically next-in-line for the throne? That makes you a HUGE target!"

Undyne was being nice in her own gruff, off-handed sort of way. Frisk knew that by default, they _might as well_ be the new heir. However, the title was never officially bestowed because of the tension between the races. Frisk wasn't even considered nobility. The loyal Froggits in the ruins still called them "Your Highness" out of respect for Toriel. But again, Frisk was never crowned; the monsters would not see themselves governed by a human- even if it was Frisk. It was made very apparent that they held no particular grudge against them _._ It was just that with the whole underground situation being what it was, it would only add further insult to injury.

So while Undyne's presumptions of Frisk being a rather large target were well-intended, it was highly unlikely that someone would be out to kill them anymore. Unless that is, Toriel remained adamant about handing down the throne.

Which she was. And that was dangerous. Toriel, though a gracious and wise queen, was soft-hearted. If not, a bit gullible. Frisk would accompany her on many of her royal outings, for Toriel wanted her child to gain the experience first-hand. She'd even consult Frisk for their opinion on politics, even taking some of their suggestions! Someone who had no intention of passing down the crown would not invest so much in a person that it would not matter to.

In that case, Undyne's warning would need to be heeded. If the day ever came that Frisk became inaugurated, there _just might_ be a few assassins out there.

Frisk was struggling to cope with these thoughts. Maybe Undyne had a point after all. If Toriel ever got her way, or let's just say she decided to up and do it anyhow… Frisk would be royalty.

That's not what Frisk wanted. Frisk only wanted to live a happy life with their friends. Then again, it would be selfish to rely on Toriel's allowance to sustain them for the rest of their life. Did they not owe it to their mother to accept the throne? They couldn't afford to think like the rest of the kingdom: hoping that either Toriel would never die and remain queen forever, or that she would remarry and produce another heir. Toriel had all of eternity ahead of her, and eventually she would grow tired of ruling the kingdom. Frisk knew their mother didn't have it in her. She may remarry someday, but she could never have another child, not of the womb. Still, all Toriel wanted was to settle down and be a mother. That is why she eagerly adopted Frisk- it fulfilled the instinctual need to nurture in her.

Perhaps, Frisk was _too_ like their mother. Like Undyne pointed out, they were a pacifist. Everyone knew the late King Asgore was a "pushover." But they were loyal out of admiration and respect. That didn't amount to squat up in the human world. What was Toriel's response to the imprisonment and abuse of her people? To offer herself instead. And Asgore? He died on everyone's behalf, trusting that the humans would honor the promise he signed in exchange for his life. They betrayed him on a technicality.

Things like this happened, that was a sad part of life. Bad people are just as real as good people. It just so happened that the bad guys won this time. But, like the king and queen before them, Frisk was foolish enough to believe it would be handled peacefully. Now they are here, and Frisk has no idea what future is in store.

On that note, it would be wise to try to listen to Undyne a little more, Frisk could not afford to remain weak. But they would never, ever, _EVER_ raise her LEVEL. Training the ATTACK and DEFENSE STATS is a good idea, and they had already grown quite a bit in the passing years, but their LevelOfViolencE would never see an EXecutionPoint for as long as they lived. Perhaps hurting their enemies to the point where they had to **submit** would be enough, and after that they would be imprisoned or exiled and that would be the end of it.

God, Frisk really hoped they would never have to kill anyone.

"Hey, wimpy!" Undyne called out. Frisk awoke from their daze. "One more round, then we'll go inside. And remember: hit me." Frisk gripped the toy sword tightly, and nodded.

"Here… I… COME!" Undyne rushed forward. A flurry of magical spears were aimed straight for Frisk. Instinctively, they began to dodge.

"No! No! NO!" Undyne interrupts the black and white battle sequence between their two souls. "You're _already_ a master at dodging, dammit! If you can't strike me yourself, at least bounce the attacks back and hope they land a hit!" The battle resumes, and Undyne furiously swipes the stem of her spear over Frisk's heart, it turns green, making them immobile- there is no escaping this time.

"TAKE THIS!" A barrage of magical spears comes raining down, luckily for Frisk, with every enchantment on the heart comes a small advantage- a green heart means one can summon forth a shield that reflects oncoming attacks. They deflect most of them, and the projectiles fly off in the distance or shatter on the shield, but one particularly large, flaming spear rushes past the rest. It hits the shield dead-on, and Frisk has to grit their teeth against the friction to keep the shield up, with a great blast of force, the spear comes hurdles back towards its target: Undyne.

Frisk is too busy deflecting the smaller spears to see the giant, flaming one come on too fast and hit its mark.

All of a sudden the black and white world returns to color, their heart is red again, and Undyne is on the ground, unmoving. Frisk loses all breath and rushes over to the fallen warrior. Undyne is on her back, eyes shut tightly, teeth grinding in pain, clutching her right side. She's suffered a deep gash trailing from her collarbone, to over her shoulder and down her arm, plus a nasty burn to boot. Then Frisk sees a glimmer of shimmering dust starting to gather.

Without a moment's hesitation, Frisk rushes inside the house for the vial Alphys leaves in the medicine cabinet. Toppling many test tubes and flasks, they scramble to find the little glass filled with silky, golden liquid.

Frisk sprints back to the front yard. Undyne, looking limper, is unresponsive to Frisk's shaking and prodding. Knowing there is no time left, Frisk pops out the cork and drips the concoction over her wounds.

Frisk carefully pours it evenly over the area until there isn't even a drop left. They sit there helplessly, clutching the vial with trembling hands, knowing they can do no more. Frisk grabs Undyne's hand and squeezes it tight.

A few agonizing seconds later, and the shimmering dims, the wounds slowly begin to close. Frisk leans in closer, eyes wide. Once she is completely healed and the glittering dust has vanished, Undyne wearily opens her eyes. "Uuugh…" She groans.

She directs her attention to the small, trembling hand held within her own. "Frisk?" With a sigh of relief, Frisk rest their head on Undyne, eyes wet from unspilled tears. Undyne wraps a strong arm around the distressed human.

"H-hey… Kid. What happened?" Undyne examines her surroundings. When she sees the scorched ground pierced with an incredibly large and dangerous spear, the small vial in Frisk's hand, and a slight twinkling to the mossy ground they were laying on, it all becomes clear. Her eyes go stark white.

"Oh _shit_ … D-did I? Almost die?!" Frisk sorrowfully nods. Undyne pulls them both up. "Yeah… You're right! Holy, fucking, shit! I almost died!" She shouts.

She plucks the empty vial from Frisk's hands. "Hmm." Undyne retrieves her spear and starts walking towards the house. "Oh well, training is over. Come on, Frisk- all this violence has made me hungry!" Unbelieving, Frisk dries their eyes on their sleeve and hurries after Undyne.

In the kitchen, Undyne is trying her best to shrug off the incident like it didn't matter. "Aw, relax kid. I'm Undyne the Undying! I wasn't gonna go out like that."

Frisk has been feeling too guilty to look Undyne in the eye after what almost happened.

Undyne fiddles with the tiny, glass vial between her fingers. "Still, good to know my wife's experimental formula was a success. This one's a keeper!" She whistles. "But hey, despite the whole near-death thing, you did really good!" She grins.

Frisk bites their lip.

The two stare at each other from opposite ends of the table.

"…"

"?"

"…"

"!"

"…"

"?!"

"…"

"…"

"NGAHHH!" Undyne roars, thrusting her trusty spear over Frisk's head by mere centimeters for it to land perfectly gored into the wall. "I HATE THIS MUSHY CRAP! STOP FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF!" She lifts Frisk up by the shoulders and gives them a hard shake. "That's the risk of fighting! You might die! So get over it!" She shouts into Frisk's face. Then she chucks them to the kitchen, Frisk landing hard on their stomach.

"You wanna make it up to me?" Undyne does a super jump and crashes through the ceiling, some of the rubble lands on Frisk. When she comes back down, she lands on the ground with a mighty "CRASH!" and splits the flooring underneath her. In her arms are various groceries.

"Then make me some spaghetti! WITH YOUR FIGHTING SPIRIT!" Undyne punches her fist through the paper bag and lets the vegetables drop on the counter. "Here! I'll help you get started!" She cackles. She lifts her leg high up into the air and lunges it down for her heel to land on the misfortunate vegetables.

The violent and bloody murders of the vegetable victims were too heinous to describe.

With veggie guts splattered all over the counter tops and walls, and the two friends now covered in savory seasoning, Undyne takes her seat at the table. "Now scrape all of that up into a pan, scrub the flavor off of yourself and get the sauce started!" Then she grins evilly. "You know what? I'm gonna treat myself today. Make me some home-made noodles while you're at it!" Frisk obediently begins scraping the vegetable remains into a sauce-pan.

"You're gonna need… FLOUR!" She drops kicks a bag of flour onto the counter, it pops and flour coats everything in the room, including them. "EGGS!" She chucks a few eggs at the wall and they splatter, dripping eggy yolk. "WATER!" Undyne cranks up the faucet so hard that it breaks off, water is now rushing out like a raging river, quickly flooding the kitchen.

"And let's not forget the salt." She calmly walks over to the counter and gently sprinkles some salt on the dough Frisk kneaded. Undyne sits back at the table, hands folded delicately over her lap, the water now risen to her ankles. "Don't forget to crank up the heat and to **RIP THE DOUGH APART WITH YOUR BARE HANDS!** "

Now content, Undyne quietly remains seated, humming to herself while Frisk painstakingly cooks fresh pasta and sauce. It turns out to be pleasantly exquisite, and Undyne viciously devours the entire plate- as in the plate and all.

"Aaaaah… That hit the spot." She pats her belly in delight.

She wades through the kitchen to fetch Frisk, now shoulders-deep in water. She retrieves her spear and breaks a window to toss Frisk out of. She decidedly jumps through another window, just because she can, and speaks to her human friend once she sticks the landing.

"I love your spaghetti kid, it's almost as good as my own! But it's not!" She laughs like a mad-woman. Frisk, now too frazzled from cooking spaghetti to care about the earlier accident, smiles thankfully. Udyne's extreme measures to cheer them up succeeded.

"Anyway, no hard feelings about earlier okay? But between you and me..." She kneels down to reach Frisk's height. "Let's keep this a secret from Alphys." She flashes the vial for emphasis. Frisk nods in understanding.

Undyne crushes the glass vial in her hand and dusts it off on her shirt. "Heh. You know what's funny? Sans didn't show up today. The guy is usually not far from you for long. I swear, that loser has nothing better to do." Frisk wondered if Undyne was changing the subject on purpose.

"Maybe you should go find him. I gotta call Papyrus, he probably knows where Mettaton is and they can both fix my house!" She shrugs. "See ya." Undyne walks off towards the road to Hotland, pulling her cellphone from her pocket.

It _had_ been a couple of weeks since Frisk last saw Sans. They wondered if he would spend the rest of the day with them.


	10. Chapter 10

Sans let out a loud, sleepy yawn, stretched until his joints popped, and scratched his backside.

Today he was napping at his post again, his old post anyway. Seeing that he was no longer a sentry anymore… Still! It was a great spot to snooze- the cool, clean air, the aroma of wet grass, the musical dripping of water droplets overhead, an occasional refreshing mist blown by a gentle breeze and the rushing lullaby of the waterfall.

 _"oooooh yeahhhh. this place does wonders for my bones."_ Sans cracks his neck and heaves a contented sigh. " _doing absolutely nothing sure can take a toll on you. i deserved this."_ He reminds himself, now awake and energized. He rested his legs over the countertop, arms folded behind his skull. He sat there for a few minutes, contemplating whether or not he should get up.

Then he frowned. " _wonder what frisk is up to right now?"_ He fidgets in his seat from the thought. " _suppose it's none of my beeswax."_ Sans tried to reassure himself. He returns to his mindless lounging, hoping to keep his mind away from the subject of Frisk.

…but it was no use.

 _"*sigh* now i gotta get up."_ Sans groaned. The short, stout skeleton, now slightly annoyed, gets up from his napping post and casually makes his way past the waterfall, hopeful that he can make it on time to intrude on Frisk's day to hang with Undyne.

Sans fiddles with the phone in his pocket. " _i could call..."_ He contemplates. " _nah. don't wanna look desperate."_ Now concise in his decision to not call Frisk, Sans musters up the energy to walk at a regular pace.

He arrives too late. The windows are broken, water leaks out of them as if the home itself was weeping. There is more water rushing out from underneath the door, which looks like it's about to burst at any moment- judging by the way the wood is groaning from the swelling water behind, and the patch of ground where Undyne likes to train is scorched and ripped up from the earth. The whole property is a muddy, flooded mess.

 _"i'm not cleaning this up."_ Sans tells himself as he briskly turns around and heads back whence he came, not bothering to look back. Now a little disappointed, he wonders if he should just head home and watch tv. Frisk is probably long gone by now, either back at Toriel's or with Alphys to find a way to resolve that mess. He absent-mindedly kicks a rock on his slow journey back home.

Then he hears a musical note.

And another note. And another one, and another. The tune is beckoning; _haunting_ when you listen to it long enough. Sans recognizes the melody.

 _"frisk."_

With more pep in his step, Sans dedicatedly follows the somber tune.

Frisk listened to the music box cradled in the stone statue's arms, legs crossed and tucked under a small umbrella, curtesey of the pail of them not far down. Frisk was happy here, if not, a little sad. There is where Frisk liked to go whenever they felt lonely. Sitting in quiet company of this statue, both seemingly hypnotized by the rhythm of the tiny music box. Who better to understand than this stone guardian? All alone, day in and day out, getting dripped on by the constant flow of water, shielding this humble little box that played a familiar tune.

The music was hard to describe. It hurt, it truly did, but it was a good hurt.

It was happy-sad, bitter-sweet, lonesome, yet comforting.

Something about this song made Frisk feel… Lost. Kind of like when they and Napstablook would lay on the floor and feel like garbage together. But this was a little deeper than that.

Frisk's heightened sense of awareness drew their attention to the heavy footsteps behind.

"howdy." Sans greets. "that's a fine umbrella you've got there, mind if i squeeze in?"

Frisk scooches over on their small patch of dry earth to make room. Sans somehow squishes his large self under the small umbrella, daringly close to Frisk.

He curses himself for being so brash. " _god, i've really done it now. i thought it would be a smooth way to get close, but now we're shoulder to shoulder!"_ Sans fretted that Frisk would see him sweat from a mile away- now that they didn't have that mile between them. Frisk, seemingly oblivious to the jittery skeleton, returns their gaze to the imposing statue.

"ya'know, not many people would think to give the big fella an umbrella." Sans speaks up.

Frisk shuts their eyes, feeling themselves getting into the music's steady beat.

"that was real cute. now every time i pass by here, i can never get lost, cuz this pretty song is there to guide me."

Frisk blushes a little from being called "cute".

"what? that sounded unlike me? give a skeleton his moments." Sans responded to Frisk peeking an eye open at him. " _are you blushing?!"_ Sans noticed, his heart leaping. He readjusts himself to be _even closer_ to Frisk, now shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip. He feels Frisk tense up.

A thought crosses his mind.

 _"this would be the perfect time to ask someone out on a date…"_ Sans realized. He clears his throat. "hey, wanna go somewhere with me?"

Frisk looked torn.

He catches on to their hesitation. "no worries, we can sit here for a bit longer, i just wanted to know that whenever you're ready to get up, would you put off going straight home to chill?"

Frisk nods.

"good. let me know when you're ready." Sans grins. And so the two of them sit in silence, enjoying each other's company, occasionally brushing an elbow, or a knee. Sans feels himself drifting off.

Suddenly, a small hand to his lap jolts him awake.

"hm?!"

Frisk jumps a little from his reaction, but patiently motions for the both of them to get up.

"oh, time to go already?"

The two had actually spent over an hour sitting there, if up to Frisk, they would've been there longer were it not for Sans's snoring preventing any musical meditation.

Sans checks the time on his cell phone. _"it's pretty late. this might work in my favor."_ He turns to Frisk. "it's dark out, that means it's the perfect time to check out a favorite spot of mine."

When _didn't_ he have a favorite spot to relax, no matter where they were? They first returned the umbrella to the pail, and he leads them back to the darkest section of the caves where only lantern light allows them any visuals.

Frisk reaches out to touch a lantern, but Sans stops them.

"not this time, you gotta trust me. we're pals right? you trust me."

Frisk nodded, but raised an eyebrow.

"yep. good. that's what pals do, they trust each other. so this spot is a bit of a big secret, and i don't want anybody else to find it just yet, so grab onto me, ya hear? i know the path like the back of my hand."

Feeling very nervous about walking blindly in the dark caverns where they could both plummet to their dooms, Frisk entrusts Sans with their safety.

They lock arms, and with his hands in his pockets, they watch the last lantern flicker and die. It is pitch black. Without a word he walks, tugging Frisk with him. They make a few turns, walk straight, another turn, then back, then forward again. The constant change of direction causes Frisk to lose footing, they lets out a panicked gasp when they feel their foot slide off the edge.

Just as they are about to fall, a strong tug lifts them from the invisible gap. Sans reflexively pulls Frisk close to him, and in his effort to catch them, has an arm wrapped around their waist. Frisk is immediately uncomfortable, though grateful their friend just saved them from a nasty fall. Sans is so still and silent Frisk wonders for a moment if he is really there. It's too dark to tell. Then a boney hand slides off their waist. Frisk shivers from the sensation.

Furiously embarrassed, Frisk stays very close to the skeleton, tightly wrapped around his arm. As they walk, one can hear a low rumbling in the distance. Once they are close enough, Frisk recognizes it as running water. The world becomes slightly more visible thanks to the light coming from the other side of the waterfall. Frisk feels a cool spray hitting their face.

"here we are. behind the waterfall."

Behind the waterfall?

"go ahead, walk right in."

Shocked, Frisk zips their head to catch the expression of the skeleton in the dim light.

His face is dead-serious. "you said you'd trust me right? i know we're high up, but you won't fall, step through the water and head in."

How is there _not_ a steep drop under a _waterfall?_

"i'm going on ahead." Sans daringly strolls right into it! There is a splashing as the water makes contact with him, but Frisk doesn't hear anyone slipping and falling.

Assured that it isn't some cruel joke, Frisk takes a wary step forward. They expect their foot to touch ground, but when they set it down, there is a steep drop and Frisk slips and falls head first into the depths! Frisk lands on a smooth surface, but feels gravity pulling at a breakneck pace. The slick ground slides them this way and that, the fast wind blowing back their hair, and the next thing they know is tumbling onto the hard, wet floor, landing ungracefully on their behind.

Frisk groans and rubs their sore derriere, coming to their senses when two boney hands lift them up and dust them off.

"see? told you we wouldn't fall. but that doesn't mean we won't _slide._ "

Frisk glares at Sans for not warning about the steep slope downward.

Sans lifts his hands up in surrender. "hey buddo, don't look at me like that. look up instead." He points upward.

With a frown, Frisk tilts their head to the ceiling, their immediate reaction is for their mouth to drop open.

"hehe."

All around them are twinkling lights, they've slid into an alcove surrounded by water crystals on all sides. Large, luminescent gems hang from the ceiling, jet out from the walls, and spike up from the ground. The running water reflects and refracts the light into a dazzling display.

Sans feels incredibly proud of himself as he watches Frisk gape at the sight with their jaw dropped.

"a lot prettier than the glowing moss and fungus everywhere else, huh?"

They nod in agreement.

He lets them explore it for a while, admiring Frisk's reflection on the many crystals as they walk out of view. Sans taps Frisk on the shoulder as they strokes their finger over the fine surface.

"this isn't even the best part. follow me." He grins eagerly.

Frisk is too awestruck to notice Sans take their hand in his as he leads them through the tunnel of shimmering rocks.

"you remember the echo flowers right?"

Frisk does.

"so you already know how they work. that means i have to stop talking now, or it'll ruin the fun."

What fun?

At the very end of the tunnel is a small, round room, full of echo flowers in bloom that glow dimly in a pale-blue light. Sans nudges Frisk to go try them out. Frisk approaches one cautiously, and kneels down to listen. Sans's whispered voice flows to their ear.

"you wanna know why skeletons are so calm?" Frisk turns around to see Sans for the answer, but he merely lifts his shoulders and remains silent. The flower whispers again

"because nothing gets under our _skin._ " Frisk snorts, which sans finds adorable.

Frisk walks over to another flower. "what do you call a skeleton with frostbite?"

They smile expectantly.

" _numbskull._ "

Again they chuckle, delighted by the many puns Sans surely must've whispered to the flowers, practicing his stand-up.

"why was the skeleton too afraid to cross the road?"

Frisk excitedly awaits the answer, already snickering in anticipation.

"he didn't have any _guts._ "

Frisk looks like their having the time of their life. Sans almost can't believe it how well it was turning out!

It's this one joke that causes Frisk to break composure and laugh so hard it echoes throughout the tunnel.

"little known fact: the average human body contains enough bones… to make an entire human skeleton."

Frisk lost it at this joke, their bubbly laughter springs forth all the way from the gut. Hearing such a silent person laugh so loudly nearly brings a tear to Sans's eye socket, he too laughs along, caught up in the moment.

When the laughter settles down, Frisk looks apologetically to Sans, realizing the laughter echoed too loudly, meaning all of the flowers would repeat it and they wouldn't get to hear the rest of his jokes. He beckons for them to walk back to the alcove.

"don't sweat it, i can always come up with fresh ones to replace them. you enjoyed yourself?"

Frisk childishly claps with glee, a wide, cheeky grin on their pleasant face. They reach the slope.

"k. before we go, promise me you'll never come here without me. there's no way up once you slide down, there's no cell signal to call for help and only i know the shortcut."

Aware of the severity, Frisk nods in agreement.

Sans smiles. "well, that was fun. come on, i'll walk you home."

The two traverse the caves in total darkness, until they finally exit back out into the snow.

"i'll take you there again sometime, when i come up with new material."

The two walk through Snowdin and back onto the path to the ruins. Along the way, Frisk wraps themselves around Sans's arm again, his eye orbs shift nervously, but he doesn't shrug his friend off. Only the soft crunching of their footsteps in the snow breaks the silence. A crescent moon shines in the dark, night sky. Snowflakes float down gracefully from the clouds.

Sans steals a glance at Frisk.

Their face is lit with a small smile, their eyes are lit up like stars, and their cheeks are especially pink from the cold. Ice crystals from the melting snowflakes decorate their silky hair, twinkling from the light of the bright moon overhead. Sans feels as though he is in a trance. He sighs lightly, _that feeling_ overwhelming his senses again.

He has to quickly avert his eye sockets when Frisk briefly turns to see if he said something.

They eventually arrive at the stone doors. "g'night frisk." He says a little solemnly. Expecting a curt nod or a short wave, Sans flinches when Frisk hugs him. He's frozen where he stands, but builds up enough steel to place two, shaky hands on their back. He shuts his eye sockets in contentment, but they fly open when he feels warm, soft lips pucker against his cheekbone. " _~Smooch.~_ " Sans tenses up, his entire frame paralyzed from the shock. Frisk waves him goodnight as they enter the doors and seal them shut.

Once the heavy doors are firmly closed, Sans raises a hand to his cheekbone. His face is entirely flushed and his eye orbs have once again, changed to the comical shape of tiny hearts. Sans lets himself go and falls backwards, no longer having the strength to stand. He lies in the snow, arms and legs splayed out, a goofy grin on his face. _"…best day of my life."_


	11. Chapter 11

Frisk shifted from side to side, a muffled sound nagging at their ears. It was soft and delicate, barely audible. A low moaning from down the hall. Frisk flips the blanket over themselves, still very sleepy. But the sound becomes clearer, a sharp intake of breath. In stark recognition, Frisk opens their eyes and sits up.

Toriel was crying again.

This wasn't a common thing, it only happened every so often, when Toriel couldn't stand the weight of her sorrows any longer and her happy illusion would shatter. Though she was a strong and poised queen, there were times while Frisk was fast asleep, that Toriel couldn't help but mourn for her family. Her murdered child, her murdered husband… Frisk would catch her in the dead of night, peek through the crack of her door and witness Toriel on her knees, clutching an old family photo, fingers stroking the frame with loving tenderness. Sometimes she would hear her hiccup their names. "Asriel…" "A-asgore."

When Frisk was small, they would quietly creep into the room and wrap their arms around her. Toriel would quickly compose herself, bake something sweet and send Frisk off to bed. Tonight, however, Frisk would not intrude. Knowing how their mother was, they did not want Frisk to see her cry. She clearly needed to get this off her chest. It wouldn't be long, just this one night. Toriel always managed to pick up the pieces _somehow..._

Not being able to comfort their mother pained Frisk to no end. Frisk wished their presence alone could make Toriel feel better, but the best thing for her was to let her grieve. So they sat on the edge of the bed, too guilty to fall back asleep.

It was their fault.

Toriel had been doing so well, she hadn't broken down like this in at least two or three years- there were regular moments of grief, yes,, but nothing like the hours she would spend sobbing and sniffling until sunrise; where she would dry her tears and bake cinnamon butterscotch pie for breakfast. "I've had a sweet toothache all night." Toriel would always say. But her forced smile could not hide the dark circles underneath her eyes, or the strain in her voice.

What probably tipped the iceberg is the song Frisk was humming when they returned home. It was once the song Toriel would to hum to Asriel as his lullaby. That she also hummed to Frisk when as a child to help them sleep whenever they got nightmares. The very same melody the music box played in the watery caves. But now that Frisk was older, nobody hums the tune anymore.

They didn't mean to make her cry.

Frisk thought about Asriel. And about Asgore. They thought about the nice cream guy, the rabbit shopkeeper, the old turtle, and the many monster children who became orphaned on the day of the purge. How they had failed them.

Toriel ensured Frisk it was not their fault, that it couldn't be helped. But Frisk knew better. Toriel wasn't aware of the power to alter the timeline. When Sans brought Frisk back to the underground, it was the first thing they intended to do. They scoured the land for SAVE POINTS, determined to LOAD their SAVE FILE. Their last SAVE was right before facing Asgore. Frisk would go back, battle him and Flowey (his true form "Asriel Dreemurr") again if they had to, then once the barrier was broken they would warn the monsters of their impending doom.

Alas, not a single, SAVE POINT could be found. Frisk was shocked to see they had vanished after the battle. When Flowey absorbed the souls, and not just the dead children's souls, but _everyone's_ souls, and became a supreme god- he _might_ have destroyed all of the SAVE POINTS in the world. This didn't make any sense, even to Asriel, because all he wanted was to keep RESETTING the timeline. Alas, only he and Frisk had the awareness, and only Asriel had the **ability.** Naturally he blamed it on himself, perhaps in his guilt -realizing that RESETTING wasn't going to truly make him happy, and that Frisk was not Chara- he did it subconsciously? If he did do it, he no longer had the power to bring them back. Frisk to this day doesn't believe Asriel took away the SAVE POINTS.

Flowey's influence exists inside and outside of the timeline, it was after all, through his actions that Frisk was able to escape purgatory and LOAD their FILE once more. Which led to current predicament. That meant from there onward, all of Frisk's decisions were final. Death wasn't any less real than when the SAVE POINTS were still around, but determination is what allows human souls to linger after death. That wouldn't bring back their physical body, which is what the SAVE POINTS made possible. Frisk would remain dead, only living on as a spirit.

So they had no way of going back in time and preventing everyone's deaths. Worse yet, if anything happened again, it couldn't be reversed. Determination is a blessing, but without a physical body to sustain themselves, Frisk would not be useful stuck as a wandering soul. What would a ghost do? And not a ghost _monster_ like Napstablook, but a human ghost. All Frisk would be able to do is _watch_ if they ever died and chose not to move on to the afterlife.

Frisk sighed and fell back onto the bed. They felt so worthless. So wracked with regret. If only they could _LOAD..._ They laid on their side. Frisk felt sorry for Asgore too. They didn't know him for long, but still, he was a good guy.

Admittedly, Frisk was hesitant to get acquainted with him. Had he not killed six of their own kind? But they soon discovered he really _was_ the pushover, soft-hearted king that everyone adored and loved. He wore dorky, "dad sweaters", they drank tea together and tended his garden. He would play catch with Frisk and ask for advice on how to get back in Toriel's favor. Sadly, Frisk had to agree with their mother on his past being inexcusable.

Undyne took Asgore's death hard.

"Asgore did what Toriel could never do. He put his emotions aside for the kingdom. The King didn't **hunt them down** , he waited, and he hoped to never encounter a human. They stumbled into _our world._ " Frisk couldn't stomach their spaghetti when having this conversation with Undyne.

"I'll admit, I've never killed a kid. Asgore didn't want to give anyone else that burden. But once we were _one sou_ l away from freedom, he hired the skelebros as sentries, and entrusted me, his close friend, with sharing the sin. _I was gonna do it Frisk._ But you beat me."

Undyne played with her food. "So I respect him, he had strength like no one else. He lost his son, he lost his wife, he ruled the kingdom by himself, he was gonna give us our freedom at his expense. And yeah, I feel sorry for the human kids. They just wanted to go home, ya know? You think I'm heartless?"

Undyne sipped her tea. "I've been getting to know her. Toriel? She's a kickass queen, but she's not Asgore. If it were up to her, we'd live down here forever. She'd rather surrender than fight for her rights." Frisk knew Undyne had a point, about everything. But it was a hard subject to swallow.

Their opinions were both terribly one-sided. Frisk shared Toriel's opinion; they think Asgore should have taken the one soul they had, then crossed the barrier himself and gotten the rest cooperatively. But he was afraid, so he waited many years for unlucky people to fall down the hole. But let's face it... When you broke it down, saw the situation for what it really was... At the end of the day, we're talking about children here. Murdered children... It was incredibly cruel. No child should be killed, and no child should be expected to do any killing. _They just wanted go home!_ Asgore knew his actions were unforgivable, even if they were justifiable. That's why he chose to taint his soul alone, until Undyne offered her services once she discovered his plan.

So thinking about it, would it be right to like Undyne either? She admitted she would do it, even though she proved to not have the heart with Frisk. But she even said that she would wait for a bad human to fall down the hole and kill them instead, and she wasn't going to care if they were a child.

What about Alphys? Her research is what gave Asgore the technology to extract determination from the children's souls. Which they only accomplished by **experimenting on their own kind** first, and she even created _Flowey!_ Though, she probably didn't know he had the broken soul of _Asgore's son_ inside of him. According to her, the test subjects that became horrendous Amalgamates were dying anyway, and the families handed their bodies over willingly because it was their last chance at life. The results were horrific, but if things didn't conveniently end the way they did, was she supposed to hate Alphys too?

Sans and Papyrus? They took the job, aware of the fact they would be **abducting a child** to send to their death! Sans turned out to not be interested in it at all, and only kept close watch over his brother, but Papyrus even had a ruddy shed to keep their child-prisoner in! Papyrus too, didn't have the heart or the skill to really handle himself against a hostile human. But Frisk couldn't help but wonder, would things have turned out differently if it wasn't them they crossed paths with that day?

No. They didn't do it in the end. People change.

It wasn't up to Frisk. They knew if they were in Asgore's place, they could never do it. That honestly scared them. And understanding his reasons for it, they decided to forgive him. It wasn't what they would do, but it was already done. Toriel may never forgive him, but even _she_ still loved him.

Maybe this is why their mother still cried for him. If she truly hated him, why would she waste her tears?

It wasn't fair. None of it was fair. Sacrifice six human children, or subject your entire race to an eternity underneath the surface where they may never see the light of day? He was stuck in a lose-lose situation.

Still... What he did was wrong.

But he did it for his people.

Toriel pointed out a better way to do it.

Then why didn't she do it?

...was anybody truly innocent?

Now Frisk was torn with what they would do if they had one last chance to do it again. Would they let it all happen like before and just keep trying until the monsters found a method to coexist with the humans? It was the future they so desperately wanted. Or would they take up Asgore's offer and live together with Toriel, all three of them as a family? It wasn't what the monster race wanted, but they wouldn't be losing anything. They would understand with time. They could be patient and wait for an evil human to be the seventh soul.

Why, oh _why_ did Flowey take that away?

In fact, why did any of this happen at all?! What would be so bad about living with monsters?! They did it for a little while, and it was amazing… Even down to the day of the purge there were human supporters against the execution of The King.

Frisk pulled at their hair. If only their mother would _stop crying!_

After a restless night, Frisk drags themselves to the kitchen to kiss their mother good morning. As expected, they eat their breakfast of nostalgia pie and decide to give her much-needed personal space. Frisk contemplated buying Toriel a gift to cheer her up too. But first, they needed to see Alphys.

Frisk walks in on the nerdy lizard-dinosaur(?)/scientist having a conversation with her sexy robot creation.

"You sure do spend a lot of time with Papyrus." Alphys recites, holding a script.

"Oh, but how could I resist?" Mettaton confesses.

"D-do you? _Like_ _him?_ "

"Alphys dear. Isn't that obvious? Why, we've only been on _a hundred dates._ "

"O-one hundred dates?!" She blushes incredibly, then returns to the script. "S-s-so, does that mean… You guys are like…"

"What, a couple?" Mettaton winks.

"Canon?!" Alphys blurts excitedly.

Mettaton flips back his hair and does a little pout. "If you're asking about whether or not he's my boyfriend, I'm afraid I do not know."

"Aww… Why not?" She whines out of character.

He looks away, a bit peeved. "That skeleton is elusive! He sends me too many mixed signals, but he _never_ refuses a date." Mettaton struts back and forth, working his _thang._ "Hmph. He's rash, rude, clumsy, self-absorbed, a total ditz…" The robots counts on his fingers.

His voice changes from irate to affectionate. "…and he's sweet, and funny, and kind, and honest and he's _oh-so-tall!_ " Glitter flutters off of his bashing eyelashes.

"Sooo… You like him. And he likes you, but you're not sure if he's your boyfriend?" Alphys remembers her lines.

"In due time darling, in due time. That tall stack of bones can't resist my beauty forever."

She laughs awkwardly. "H-hehe... heh. I totally ship you two."

Suddenly a light bulb rises from Mettaton's head and flashes.

"OHHHHH ALPHYS!" He drops to his knees and touches his heart, his other arm swept over his forehead. "You live the married life! Tell me, what is your secret? I cannot stand this any longer! How did you reel her in? Oh, when I was but a _rectangle_ I had so many swooning fans constantly asking for my hand. Why has Papyrus not swooped me off my feet and ran with me in his arms towards the sunset? Will I _ever_ get my happily ever after?"

"I-I-I'm sure you _will._ T-these things just t-take time." She sweats nervously.

Mettaton jumps to his feet and lands with a dramatic high kick. "You heard it folks, how much time will it take for The Great Papyrus to officially date the fabulous, fantastical, forward, frisky Mettaton? Tune in next time, to find out." He waves at nothing, blowing kisses and throwing confetti about, a recorded studio audience can be heard applauding from the sound system in his chest.

It ends abruptly. "So? What do you think? Is it not _irresistible?_ He'll have to date me now!"

Alphys sighs in relief, dabbing her forehead with a hanky. "Are you sure you want to ask him on live television? I mean, you'd really be putting him on the spot…"

"But of course I do! He LOVES my show, and he's guest-starred several times, the audience adores Papyrus!"

"H-haven't you thought about… Asking him yourself? You know... In... Private?"

Mettaton frowns. "…"

A cold breeze blows past them.

"NO."

He quickly turns on his heel and catwalks out of the lab. "Oh dear… He's just… Too proud." Alphys thinks aloud.

Frisk taps her shoulder. "Y-y-yikes! Don't sneak up on me like that!" She jumps.

"Oh. F-frisk. Hi… You didn't… Hear all of that, did you?"

Frisk nods.

"Uhhh." She blushes again.

Frisk pats her on the shoulder.

"A-anyway, what can I do for you?"

Frisk pointed to the viewing monitor.

"You wanna watch anime?"

Frisk shook their head.

"You wanna watch the security footage?"

They shook their head again.

"Oh. You want to see _that_ again. R-right?" Alphys's nervous sweat returns. "Ummm…" She quickly zips lift and right, spinning all around, tapping the ground and scrutinizing the ceiling for any extra ears. "Okay, you know the drill."

They went upstairs to Alphys's private room, which she had under DNA lock and key now that she was married. Would it stop Mettaton? Probably not, but he still respected her privacy. Alphys struggles to make decent conversation.

"So uh. Mettaton, huh?"

Frisk gives her full attention.

"He's changed. Not so much, but, you can really see Papyrus rubbing off on him."

Frisk smiles, knowingly.

"I mean, they're both pretty wild, and uh, narcissistic. And they really, really, _really_ cause a lot of structural damage. But Mettaton has gained a lot more confidence now that his EX form is complete. He doesn't have to walk around as a box on wheels anymore. And… Papyrus, even though he can be a bit clueless, he's really nice. And ever since those two started dating, Mettaton has been kinda nicer! Did you know he sponsors a Papyrus fanclub?"

Frisk is happily surprised.

She rubs her eyes. "Uh. Listen, Frisk. I've been up all night, and I need to head home in about an hour, back to my wife. I'm gonna need plenty of rest for our d-date-night." She admits poking two claws together.

Oh dear. That meant they were both probably going to dress up, or at least wear cute, matching jammies, eat junk food and ramen, while binge-watch anime until they fall asleep. Frisk couldn't be more pressed for time.

"Here ya go, I'll set it up for you now. You don't need me here, right?" She adjusted the cameras and sound system to their preferred settings. She also dimmed the lighting of the room via remote-control which was left besides Frisk as they had their eyes glued to the screen. Alphys locks the door behind her.

Frisk saw their old house, now abandoned and still up for sale. It was in a sorry-state, so Frisk quickly changed the monitor to something else. Now there was Frisk's old school. Their former friends were probably all grown up by now. Frisk wondered if they still attended there. They flipped the channel again. There's the general store, the supermarket, town hall, a few housing complexes, the park…

Alphys had sent Undyne to set up these spy cameras when she and Sans were testing the barrier nine years ago. She still wanted specs on the outside, for data-collecting purposes. They were set up all over Frisk's hometown, which was closest to the mountain. If Frisk ever felt home-sick, or simply curious, Alphys would let them peek at the outside world, completely confidential of course. Toriel would probably not approve.

Frisk flipped through the viewing channels at a rapid pace. Either everyone they knew had moved away or had aged too well to recognize. They could not spot one familiar face. They didn't find any monsters either, which was both a relief and a worry. Frisk and Alphys had spent the years hoping this footage would capture a new glimmer of hope.

But it looks like life went on as usual.

Once again, Frisk felt bad. Yesterday they almost killed Undyne, last night they made their mother cry, and now they can't even find any old neighbors. What became of the town that once housed a traitor? Frisk shuddered to think.

Their mind began to wander... Did their biological mother and father have any more children? Have grandma or grandpa passed away yet? Has their uncle finally gotten his business off the ground? What about their distant aunt? Had she gotten married like she always wanted? Frisk wondered how big their cousin was now. He must be eighteen by now. Probably has a girlfriend too, his driver's license... He was like the cool brother Frisk never had.

The thoughts hurt, but Frisk didn't cry over their family. It's not that they were so numb on the inside that they could easily toss them away. But by the time Frisk returned to the surface all those years ago, they weren't the same person anymore. They had changed too much, and their family couldn't grasp that.

Toriel never bothered Frisk with their reason for climbing the mountain. Sans however, was quite curious. It was a few years back, Frisk was still a kid. They were eating out late at Grillby's. Sans treated Frisk as usual, and they told awful puns while enjoying their personal pizzas:

"so. i gotta question for ya." Sans announced after chugging the rest of his root beer.

Frisk peeked under the table, expecting a spill. Pondering about _just where does the soda go_ when he drinks it?

"remember when i brought you back?"

They lift their head from under the table.

"well, i've been thinkin. you're a good kid- actually you're a great kid. and i've kinda been stumped as to why you were so quick to leave your folks. i mean, down here, you're obviously the type to work things out rather than run away. and i know you had a lousy time, but they weren't cruel to you." He looks straight into Frisk's eyes. "what made you wanna leave?"

Frisk didn't have the words to explain themselves. They poked their chin and thought for a while, until they remembered they had just the thing to answer Sans's question in their pocket. Frisk placed the group photo of the gang on the table.

Sans peered over to check it out. "a picture's worth a thousand words kid. mind narrowing it down for me?"

Frisk pointed to the picture and then to themselves, a sad frown as their finger pointed towards their heart.

Sans blinked a few times. "huh. i think i get it." He leaned back in his seat. "you belong here, with us. i'm guessing you and your fam don't see eye-to-eye."

They sadly nodded.

He nodded back and closed his eyes. "yeah, i feel you. i assumed that's what it was. this is your home, we're your pals, and they just didn't understand."

Frisk agreed.

"gotcha. i won't bother you no more about it."

Frisk resumed drinking their ginger ale until Sans spoke up again.

"turns out i have one more question."

They perked up to listen.

"so i know why you're here now. but…" He pauses. "why did you climb the mountain, kid?"

Frisk didn't have to think long or hard about this one. They shrugged their shoulders and returned to eating their last slice of pizza.

"come again?" Sans requested, confused.

Frisk waved him off.

"uh... that's it? you don't know?" He queried.

Frisk smirked at him.

"what, were you _bored or something?_ "

They nodded in full honesty, a mischievous smile reaching from ear to ear.

As mundane a reason as it was, boredom is what drove Frisk to scale Mt. Ebott. Like many of the schoolchildren, they had heard of the superstition that claimed monsters lived on Mt. Ebott. The legend sprang forth from a string of missing person reports. All kids too, who went missing after heading off to climb the mountain. Many of their elders believed spirits made their homes on that mountain, and the children were abducted into the spirit world for trespassing. The older kids told scary stories insisting that these spirits were actually monsters that ate the kids because they were soft and sweet-tasting. Of course, Frisk's own grandparents had a different tale to tell. One of a time where two different races lived in harmony, but a war broke out, and the humans lived above while the monsters lived below. It was so long ago, that many suspect that is where all stories of demons and ghosts came from- because of the memory of once living with monsters.

Frisk wasn't anyone special before they stumbled into the underground. They were a regular little kid, who lived in a plain little house, with a mother and father. Their grandparents didn't live too far off, only a few blocks down, and their uncle and younger cousin lived in the next town over. Frisk also had a single aunt on their mother's side who lived in the big city. Frisk went to school, got average grades, had friends who were both classmates and neighbors. They enjoyed typical-child activities like kickball, tag, and hide-and-seek. Their mother would often send them off on errands, while their father always made sure they got their chores done. Whenever Frisk was at home they would watch tv or play with their toys and video games. They didn't really have any hobbies besides wandering around aimlessly. Frisk didn't even speak, there was never much to say.

It was a quiet town. Everyone knew each other, and most of them have lived there their whole lives. The town consisted of some houses, a school, a town hall, a library, a supermarket, some shops like general goods and clothing and all that. There was a park, a playground, _plenty_ of empty space... The only interesting thing the town had to offer was its spooky legend.

A few miles off, there waited Mt. Ebott. Most of the townsfolk stayed away from the place because it was isolated and easy to get lost. Others didn't like its reputation for producing missing children. Frisk's mother and father didn't believe in the legend, but they warned Frisk to return home before dark and to not go alone.

Frisk couldn't rally any of their friends to go with them, they were all either too afraid or forbidden from going near the place. Still, Frisk had nothing better to do. They had a phone for emergencies, and there was still plenty of light out, so they donned a stick as their weapon and pressed on. The mountain was pretty enough, it was bright out and warm, but everything looked the same. Their mind began to wander. In that daze, Frisk wasn't watching where they were going and fell down the hole. The rest, as they both knew it, was history.

Sans slapped his boney palm on the table. He was chuckling to himself. "you know what? i respect you." The two shared a bro-fist.


	12. Chapter 12

Frisk couldn't stand to look at the screen any longer. They shut it off, texted Alphys to lock her door because they were heading out and thanked her for the sneak peek. They walked with their eyes to the ground out of the lab. Frisk was still very frustrated, very upset. Toriel wasn't the only one who had moments of heartbreak.

They missed their family.

Yeah, life wasn't exciting or memorable. But it was theirs. Those were Frisk's parents, those were Frisk's friends, and that was Frisk's hometown. Their whole childhood was there!

Alphys had once given Frisk a long talk where she sat Frisk down and explained that their family probably missed them too, but they had to start over again and focus on more important things. And when they saw their mental health fall into a decline, it wasn't as if they deliberately ignored them. They just… Didn't know what to do. (In Alphys's opinion) They could've done better, but they had a completely different opinion from Frisk on the subject of monsters.

Frisk felt awful.

Some ambassador they were… Look at what happened to everybody! Now most of them will never meet a nice human, and there's this newfound resentment towards the entire race. Only a small portion got to interact with Frisk's kind, they didn't get to see the months of harmony they shared.

Everything just... Fell apart.

In their depressed stupor, Frisk had wandered to a dead end in Hotland. Seeing as no one else was around, they took this as an opportunity to feel sorry for themselves. Frisk sat down on the dry, rocky ground and tucked their head into their knees.

Frisk broke down and began to cry.

Nine years. Frisk had lived here for nine years. This was home to them. If Frisk suddenly had to live above ground and function as regular human being they would fail miserably. It wasn't that, they felt like they belonged _enough_ , but not being able to leave, not knowing how their family and friends were doing was eating away at Frisk. It was all a guise. As wonderful as the underground was, it was still a prison. Only this time, there was no escaping.

What other choice did they have? The people outside killed Asgore! They pillaged the settlements and built a big, spiked wall with a deep trench around it! They made this choice to _survive._

Frisk was sobbing now. Not out of anger or regret, but out of pity.

They'll never see how amazing the earth outside is. The sun, the grass, the trees, the ocean… They'll never know how wonderful humans can be, how much kindness and compassion exists in their hearts. They just met the wrong ones; they caught a bad break. But now this was permanent.

 _Now_ Frisk was angry.

Why couldn't the SAVE POINTS be brought back?!

What's so damn complicated about showing _MERCY?_ Toriel and Asgore were going to be their new "aunt" and "uncle", not their _parents._ They were going to be an extended part of the family and join them for Christmas and Thanksgiving and maybe Toriel could become a teacher like she always wanted and find a job at Frisk's school.

Frisk was going to watch Papyrus on Youtube and leave likes and comments and follow his channels. And they were going to show Sans their favorite diner and that would become their usual hangout spot. Undyne and Alphys could come over for sleepovers and they could have an anime marathon. Then whenever the whole gang got together they'd watch Mettaton on tv. Asgore would be sat at the table with Frisk's father sharing gardening tips, (their father loved tending his lawn) while Toriel and Frisk's mother were exchanging recipes and cooking dinner together in the kitchen for everyone (their mother happened to be an excellent home-cook).

If Asriel could return all of the souls, why didn't he restore the SAVE POINTS? Wasn't his deepest desire to keep RESETTING things forever? To keep the twisted GAME from ending? Too many things just didn't add up! Even _he_ didn't know how he had done it. NONE OF IT MADE SENSE!

Frisk held back their scream. Hot tears pouring from their eyes. Frisk couldn't remember the last time they felt this worked up- if they ever had.

Two, strong, boney arms wrapped around them. "what's the matter?"

It was Sans. A mixture of worry and sadness in his expression. "that's it, now you've gotten yourself a one-way ticket to hugville." He rubbed Frisk's back and held them close. "there, see? you're alright. now talk to me."

Frisk only whimpered and resumed crying, ashamed of themselves.

Sans let out a long breath."i'll wait. just let it out." It took a few minutes for Frisk to calm down, but Sans's silent support kept them from bursting again.

The two sat there, Frisk was still sniffling. "i didn't expect to find you like this. i don't think i've ever seen you cry."

Frisk pouted, now aware of their vulnerability.

"i saw you walking around earlier, you didn't read my text? sorta looked like you needed a friend."

Frisk pulled out their cell phone. Sure enough, there it was, they must've been too out-of-it to notice.

" ** _boo._** "

Sans thought he was _so scary_ sometimes.

"i know, _classic_ right?" He returns to his seriousness. "are you gonna tell me what's bothering you or not?" Frisk sighed, might as well fess up. They tilted their head up and looked at the high cavernous ceiling with dismay.

Sans strained his neck. "up?"

Frisk hummed.

"up… up there?" He realized.

Frisk hung their down, aware that they were crying over spilled milk. "you miss the above ground. don'tcha?"

Frisk remains silent and still, horribly afraid that they might have offended him.

"eh… should've guessed it was gonna get to ya sooner or later. after all, it's not natural for a human to be living down here." He slings his arm over their shoulder. "but… something tells me there's more to it." He whispers.

Frisk buries their face into his sweater. "what's really making you cry?" Sans asks with genuine concern.

Frisk pulled out the heart-shaped locket from underneath their shirt and clicked it open. Sans looked at the photo: It was a family portrait. An _old_ family portrait. The picture was faded and a little torn. There was a younger-looking Toriel and Asgore standing side-by-side with loving smiles. Between them was a small child that remarkably resembled the both of them, holding a bouquet of flowers. Next to that child, was a human child- one that looked shockingly like Frisk. Sans felt his gut flip-flop at the sight.

"is this the prince? never seen him before." Sans remarked.

Frisk nodded, feeling that they had some fessing up to do. It was gonna be a long story.

Sans fondled the locket, squinting. "that's some sick photoshop right there kid. you even got the shading and lighting to look legit."

Frisk shook their head. No, that was not them! Maybe he didn't know?

"ah. so this must be chara..." Sans said, he voice suddenly darker.

Frisk blinked. So he knew after all? The underground's monsters were aware that Toriel and Asgore once had adopted a human child, but that was so long ago, only a select group were privy to the knowledge- to speak of the subject was pretty much sacrilege.

Sans had heard a little bit about Chara- a name so shrouded in mystery and woe that few people of the underground bothered to share the story. No one talked about the King and Queen's dead children. **Nobody.** So of course he hadn't known what they looked like until now. But there was something about the human kid in the photo that made Sans feel as cold as death. They looked near-identical to Frisk. And Sans found that disturbing. The creepy smile, the empty eyes... They didn't belong on Frisk's face.

"you miss king fluffybuns too? or is it 'family' that you miss? you're own family."

Frisk's mouth turns into a twisted frown.

"not so much? then… you must blame yourself for what happened huh?"

How could he read them so easily?

Sans sighs and shakes his head. "i'm not a wizard, if that's what you're thinkin. i don't have the willpower to memorize all those spells..."

Frisk looks at him suspiciously.

"it just makes sense you would feel that way with all the SAVE POINTS being destroyed and all."

Frisk stumbled to their knees, expression switched to pure shock. They couldn't believe their ears. Did they just hear him say what they think they heard?!

"what? why you lookin at me like that? never heard a skeleton reveal his awareness of the infinite timelines that exist in this very dimension which can be accessed via magical waypoints that create a space-time disturbance in the universe and allows the individual to alter the fabric of reality?"

Frisk stood there with their eyes wide and mouth dropped open.

Sans shrugs. "guess not."

Frisk began pinching themselves, sure that they were dreaming. But there he was. And he knew about the timelines!

"come on frisk. i'll grab us some grub. i wanna have a talk with ya." Confused and amazed, Frisk follows him without a moment's hesitance.

They didn't use a shortcut this time. Sans took Frisk to the fast-food stand that Burgerpants used to work at, now employed by Catty and Bratty.

"So like, what do you want to order?" Bratty asks.

"Yeah, cuz like, we haven't got all day." Catty comments.

"one legendary hero please." Sans orders.

"Whaaat? Like, you don't want a Glamburger? What gives?"

"Catty, don't be so rude and stuff, they can like, order whatever they want."

"Yeah, I guess so, but Glamburgers are totally like, the BEST." Catty insists.

Bratty takes the change and hands him the enormous hero. "Come again."

"Order some Glamburgers next time, so we can all like, share!" Catty adds playfully.

"What? Yeah right. You mean only with _you._ " Bratty says accusingly.

They walk out of the hotel, Sans sits himself outside, against the wall. Frisk sits beside him, looking very blank. "hm? you wanted food too? why didn't _you_ order?"

Frisk says nothing.

"just kidding. here, we can share." He splits the giant sandwich in half. "so… i'm sure you're wondering just how the heck do i know about SAVEPOINTS and stuff."

Frisk looks his way, munching on their half of the hero.

"well, you see? i've been studying how the world works for a long time. and i know you went into my room."

Frisk jumps up in alarm.

"nah. i'm not mad, i'm actually impressed. no one has ever made it to my room, 'cept my bro."

Still worried, and wanting to avoid conversation, they take another bite.

"have you ever heard of a guy named gaster?"

Frisk knew that name! But how, they were unsure.

"he used to be the royal scientist before alphys. was a _genius_ , but the guy had a few screws loose, if you know what i mean."

Frisk understood.

"he's the one that built the core, and during one of his experiments, he slipped and fell right in."

They suddenly didn't like where this story was going.

"he was shattered to bits and scattered all over the underground- in a separate dimension to boot." He leans in close to Frisk, his eyes black and empty. " **everyone thinks he's dead, but he's not. his body may be broken and lost, but his consciousness still watches over us in this world.** "

Frisk loudly gulps down their bite of sandwich, shivering.

Sans swallows the rest of his hero whole and leans back in the wall, patting his non-existent stomach in satisfaction. "he's my father."

WHAT?! Frisk nearly dropped the rest of their hero, and was now fumbling to assemble it back together from the bits that fell onto their lap.

"or was he my brother? at least... i think we're related. funny thing about us skeletons, ever wonder how we reproduce?"

Frisk was still reeling from the shock. But yes, they were curious.

"like everyone else you pervert." Sans grinned.

Frisk blushed incredibly and shot their head down.

"yeah. you can do it the old fashioned way... or just take a bit of your own bone marrow and pluck it out, put it in a safe place and pour some magic into it! wait a loooong time, then bada-bing, bada-boom, the stork monster delivers a baby skeleton." Sans turns his skull to face Frisk, clearly proud of his cheekiness.

Frisk does not look amused.

"anyway, so gaster, he's before our time, and he noticed a few things over the years."

Frisk sat up straight.

"a great case of deja-vu. things kept repeating themselves at certain intervals. then there would be this grace period- every decade, sometimes less -and it would start all over again."

Frisk wondered if it had anything to do with the power of determination.

"being the royal scientist and all, gaster knew what was up with the whole barrier-thing way back when. he figured it must've had something to do with the humans and their determination, cuz every time a human fell into the underground, the timeline would go out of whack."

Yes, he was onto something. Frisk had their own suspicions.

"turns out, you humans are really stubborn when you die. you just don't wanna go. and if you feel strongly enough, you can use that determination to go back in time right before you died."

He's right!

"but it's tricky, monsters can't do it, except for boss monsters, and only humans with a powerful will to live can summon it, so that means not every human can do it either. also, it can be used infinitely, but not flexibly. you can only LOAD your SAVE FILE wherever you last touched a SAVE POINT. RESETTING starts the whole timeline over. SAVE FILES can also be deleted or copied. so it's complicated. it's not as if humans could jump to whatever time they wanted. it drove gaster nuts, he was itching to get his hands on it."

Sans looks off into the distance. "he never got to finish his work, cuz we know he fell into the core. my brother and i were born sometime in between, and i was gaster's assistant for a few years."

But Sans isn't even that old!

"i've spent most of my life trying to find him." Sans says solemnly. "but i've made more progress finishing his work."

That explains the small lab behind his house.

"i have two theories on his identity- that either he's our father, or our brother. and i know he's not dead because papyrus and i keep aging, but seeing how he isn't whole, we don't age _much._ we're connected somehow. i can feel it."

This was incredible to hear from Sans.

"so, seeing that he was still alive and all, i focused my research on the timelines and picked up where he left off. if i discovered a way to time travel, i thought maybe i could rescue him." He pauses. "but i was wrong. there's no way to save gaster. he isn't affected by the timelines at all, because he doesn't exist in this dimension. in his dimension, there is no time. there's no air, no sun, no water, nothing. i think the only reason he hasn't died yet is because the old man is extremely stubborn." He says that last sentence with fondness. "so even if i could go back in time, i wouldn't find him. he didn't just break apart when he fell into the core, he erased himself from existence"

So it was hopeless?

"in our world, there is no gaster. it's as if he never lived at all."

If that's true, how could he even remember?

"if you've kept up so far, you're probably wondering how any of this ties together. well, it's not a simple as that. we were already born when he fell into the core, and he only erased his existence from that point onward. so all of his influence remained, that is, the core still existed, and his research was left behind, it's just his essence that is gone. there's proof he was once here, just not that he ever _was._ the timeline was shifted slightly, not perfectly- don't ask me how, cuz it's complicated. no one even remembers the poor guy. that's why paps doesn't know. but i know. cuz i got into his private archives."

Where was he going with all this?

"i'm gonna spare you the complex, science-y stuff, but yeah. all of my research and experiments devoted to finding him led me to _something else._ "

Frisk was eager to hear it.

"maybe deja-vu runs in the family, cuz when you fell down here and started disrupting this timeline, i couldn't put my fingerbone on why things seemed so repetitive, and _just why didn't anyone else notice?_ "

Frisk scooches closer to him.

"i have this artificial dimensional-chamber, it's a box. i put things in the box and they aren't affected by the timeline, just like whatever sad place gaster is stuck in. so i put a book in there. just for kicks. whenever you LOAD your SAVE FILE and go back to wherever you were before you died, i would get that sense of deja-vu again, and feel inclined to open the box. turns out, like i suspected, the timeline was being changed. so i put one more book in the box, a completely different book. to not get confused. if i was right, all i would have to do is wait for you to do your thing, and if i ever felt that deja-vu, i'd check the box. there it was again, the same two books that existed in the box, also existed on my bookshelf, they were the same books, just duplicated through time-travel. i did it again, and again, and again, and i linked the patterns to you. good old gaster was right, humans could go back in time to save themselves if they had determination. the books proved it."

So many things just made sense now to Frisk.

"you know what else?"

Frisk shook their head.

"i didn't actually _know_ that you went into my room, i only assumed it."

They gasp in surprise.

"your reaction proved my point. you must have LOADED your FILE without SAVING, then spoke to me several times, because there's no way i would've given you the key. the last time i talked to you, you had this expression on your face like you've heard my spiel before, plus i had that deja-vu again. so i tested you. that triple-secret passcode i told you about? made it up on the spot."

Frisk was stunned.

"but hey, i figured i must've told you a passcode before, because you said that really gross thing." He chuckles, shattering the seriousness of the moment. "only i would think of something stupid and disgusting like that. hehehe. you sure sounded hilarious saying it out loud. man, i'm such a comedic genius."

Frisk had been fooled.

"i had a thought: if this was true, then past me was messin with ya, and he knew only the future me would recognize a passcode he made up, even if i had never heard it before. so when i heard you say it, i knew only _i_ would tell you to say such a thing. ever since then, i've been convinced you are a time traveler."

Frisk was captivated by his plot.

"that's why i trusted you with the key to my room." He winks. "did you enjoy getting owned like a nerd?"

Frisk laughed and nodded in honesty.

"but you know. i never thought you'd get into my lab."

Frisk's cheery demeanor went grave.

"it's not a pleasant place." He says staring straight at them. "ever since we had that little discussion, you haven't looked at me the same way. like i wasn't some lazy dope anymore. you knew there was more to me than what meets the eye." He scratches the back of his skull. "i mean, yeah, the key to it was in my room, but i never expected you to find it behind my house. i kinda hoped you would fall for the prank and that would be the end of it."

Frisk wonders if Sans feels betrayed by their snooping.

"thought i forgot didn't ya?"

Frisk looks away.

"i'm not like you, frisk. i'm affected by the timeline just like everyone else. i don't remember when things are RESET, and i don't why i felt like i've done something before every time you LOAD. but because of my research and that deja-vu, i could set up traps and reminders for myself that something was fishy. gaster's notes told me about the SAVE FILES and SAVE POINTS. i learned about those before you ever showed up, so even when you go back in time, it's not farther back than when i started my research, so i can never forget that SAVE POINTS and SAVE FILES exist. with that knowledge in mind, putting two and two together isn't exactly rocket science. i'm eternally aware of the anomaly, just powerless to stop it. just like how i'm powerless to ever find gaster. there's no point in putting up a fight."

Sans stood up, but Frisk tugged at his sleeve.

"what, you wanna know why i gave up? cuz, it can't be helped. gaster can never come back to this world because he has no place in it anymore, he can't even be reached where he is. as for the foggy memories i do have of him- he wouldn't want me to waste my life trying to find him, especially since the experiments are so dangerous. if it's all gonna RESET, then even if i saved him, it would quickly be undone. i've gotta focus on taking care of my brother-that's what's more important, not impossible things."

He waits for Frisk to get up and starts walking. "and you, you've gotta focus on the present. it's no use crying over what you can't change. yeah, the SAVE POINTS are gone, that sucks, but you're alive now right? SAVE POINTS wouldn't be reliable forever, eventually when your time to go comes, you gotta accept it. so why not live your life with a smile?"

Frisk took his words in thoughtfully.

Of course, Sans was being entirely hypocritical. He wasn't going to accept the day Frisk would eventually die. They're young now, but some day… Some day Frisk was going to get old. They were going to grow old and die. And now that the SAVE POINTS are gone for good, if something awful ever happened, they couldn't come back. Frisk didn't know this, but Sans was working on a new project, one that he considered worth the effort- because he had a say-so in the matter this time around. Sans wanted his happy ending. So he wasn't going to rest until Frisk became his.


	13. Chapter 13

Sans went shopping with Frisk that day, but then Frisk had the idea that something hand-made would probably be more of Toriel's taste. So they went on a hunt for snail shells and crafted her a bracelet made out of them. He walked Frisk home and when they brought him in for a hug, they nuzzled their cheek against his affectionately.

Luckily his knees didn't give way this time, but Frisk found it strange that he stood there completely stiff and immobile, he didn't even wish them goodnight. Frisk shrugged their shoulders and went home, assuming he was being funny again.

Sans spent the next day lying in the snow, hoping the cold would chill his skull and numb his mind from the troublesome thoughts concerning a confusing, human crush of his. On his own way home, Sans was not too happy with himself. " _i'm such a moron. these darn knees locked right up, and my jaw went all stiff."_ He sighs, his breath cold and cloudy from the drop in temperature. " _who am i kidding? frisk doesn't even know i took them on a date; i was too scared to ask, and i bet they don't think it was one."_

He touched his cheek, " _at least i got this…"_ he smiled warmly. But then a foul thought crossed his mind. " _wait. what if frisk is just being nice?"_ He felt his heart drop into his stomach. (If that was even possible?) _"is frisk this nice to everybody?!"_ He feared. Oh no, no, no. Could it be that they didn't favor him at all? Were they merely treating him the same way they would treat anybody else?

How many kisses did _they_ get?

Peeved and paranoid, Sans set off to get the scoop from the others. Maybe they would give him a hint at what, or hopefully _who_ they liked, _and_ if they treated them any differently from each other. He needed to stand out, start giving them ideas that he may want more than friendship from them. So the first thing he did was head home. Undyne was still crashing at his place until her house was repaired, and she didn't like spending all her time in Alphys's lab. She was lounging on the couch, (though she often complained it was too hard and lumpy) her long legs taking up the entire length. Sans closed the door behind him.

"i'm home." He called out.

"Welcome back?" Undyne said, confused to why he announced his arrival as if she were his housewife.

"how have you been little buddy? did you miss me? i missed you."

She was instantly creeped out. Undyne's eyes followed Sans as he walked to the table.

"are you hungry?"

"Uhhhhhh… No?" She answered warily.

Sans went to the kitchen and brought back a handful of chocolate chips. "here ya go. eat up." He smiled.

"What the hell Sans?!" Undyne shouted, a little offended he would offer her such a lousy meal. Sans grinned and tossed the chocolate chips at the table, they landed on the lone rock sitting at its edge.

"What the-?" She frowned, only more confused.

"oh, undyne. what's shakin?"

"WHO THE HELL WERE YOU TALKING TO?!" She exploded.

"i was just feeding my pet. he was hungry, and _somebody_ didn't bother feeding him for me." He stated accusingly.

Undyne darted her eyes to the rock on the table, now covered in chocolate chips. "Your pet… _rock?_ "

"he has a _name_ you know." Sans answered in an offended huff.

"Uh. What's his name?"

"lump."

She puckered her lips. "His name is Lump?"

"yeah, lump. cuz he's a lump."

Her brow furrowed. "Okay, next time I'll remember to feed Lump."

"he likes chocolate chips and sprinkles." He informed her.

"Noted. Lump likes to eat chocolate chips and sprinkles." She rolls her eyes.

"rainbow sprinkles are his favorite." He adds.

"Then why didn't you throw sprinkles at him?"

"cuz, it'll spoil his dinner." Sans said as if the matter were obvious.

Undyne held back her words and resumed watching television. "anything good on?" Sans asked.

"You know damn well we only have four channels down here." She said snippily. Mettaton was the underground's only source of media entertainment, which only overfed his vanity. He starred on a cooking channel, news channel, game show, and a rather graphic soap opera.

"know when paps is coming home?"

"He's working overtime today."

 _"probably begged grillby to extend his shift again."_ Sans was thinking. "question."

"Shoot." Undyne answered.

"how close are you to frisk?"

Undyne stretched her neck all the way around with a sickening "CRACK!" to face Sans without moving. "We're **besties.** " She hissed.

Sans was put-off by her sudden change of behavior. (and the unnatural position of her neck) She sprang up and lifted Sans up by hooking him underneath his armpits. "What did Papyrus tell you?! Cuz we're the very best kind of friends there are! What? Does he think we're not friends anymore because we haven't hung out in a while? I don't know where Frisk has been! But that's fine, cuz we're _best friends_ , and _best friends_ give each other space once in a while! Besides, I would know if they wanted to hang out because **_WE'RE BESTIES AND FRISK WOULD TELL ME ANYTHING!_** "

"anything?" Sans questioned.

She shook him violently. " _ANYTHING!_ " She insisted.

"does frisk tell you tons of secrets- the kind that can only be discussed just between the two of you?"

"Ha! You wouldn't know because you're not their BFF. Frisk doesn't have any secrets!" She stated confidently.

"and you guys are so close that frisk trusts you to be their shoulder to cry on?"

"Fuhuhuhu! You need to improve your friendship skills. If you were _real friends_ you would know that Frisk never cries!"

Hmmm. Interesting, very interesting. "alright. _i'm_ clearly in no position to doubt such a strong bond between two best friends."

She releases him. "That's right! So check yourself before you wreck yourself!" She warns.

Sans pretends to suddenly remember something. "oh. i have to head out again. take care of lump." He opens the door.

"Wait!" She yells.

He turns around.

Undyne smiles awkwardly. "Can I pet him?"

Sans had to remember himself for a moment. "lump? yeah. knock yourself out." She springs from the couch and rushes over to the table to delicately pet the rock.

Sans shakes his head and heads out the door, he pulls out his cell phone once he's a good distance from his house. "Oh! Uh. Hello? Hello?" A nasally voice answered.

"what's crackin alphys?" Sans greeted.

"Sans?! Is that you?"

"the one and only."

"Y-you _never_ call _me!_ "

"figured it was about time i did."

"Uh. Um. W-w-what do you need? How c-can I help you?"

"just wanted to ask a few questions."

He could hear her hyperventilating a distance away from the phone.

"T-this isn't going to be more puns is it?"

Oh. He guessed he had the coming. After all, his reputation precedes him.

"nah. not this time."

"You mean it?"

"cross my heart."

"Okay. Then… Ask away!"

"i'm only curious. what's your friendship with frisk like?"

"H-huh? With Frisk? W-why do y-you ask?"

For some reason she sounded more nervous than usual.

"alphs?"

"No. I'm still here. Sorry." She took a deep breath first.

Then she continued. "Well, we don't really get to hang out as much as I'd like to. But I'm always so busy with my research or with Mettaton and Undyne. Oh and Papyrus recently too. But! When we do get to see each other, it's really fun. We watch tapes on my giant monitor, or maybe Frisk will offer to be my lab assistant that day, or whenever I need personal help we'll roleplay!"

"roleplay? now what's that about?" Sans asked.

"Ah! You see, it's like acting, only uh… A lot more… Personal."

Personal? Maybe Alphys had the information he so desperately wanted.

"explain it to me." He said casually, slight interest in his tone.

"L-like I said, it's pretty much acting or pretending! Only you don't do it for tv or a play, you do it for fun! I-in my case, it helps me gain confidence… And Frisk is very patient."

"is that all?" Sans asked, now losing interest.

"No. I mean, some people find that kind of kinky-"

"k-kinky?!" Sans sleepy sockets flung right open. He had to muzzle the phone and look around to make sure none of the schoolkids overheard him.

"yo alphs, what's the big idea?" Sans retorted, unpleased.

"L-l-let me explain! Frisk and I –haven't done anything! I-I'm m-married! We only went on a date once and that's where we-" ** _what?!_** " Sans had to stop himself from crushing the phone.

"S-s-sans? Are you still there?" Alphys worried.

"what date? what did you do? when? where?!" Sans demanded, unbelievably angry.

"Sans! You're scaring me!"

"spill it, alphys."

"Are you mad because Mettaton is putting the moves on your brother?"

If Sans's inner anger could reverberate externally, the ground would surely be shaking by now.

"nu-uh. like i said, i'm curious."

"But what about Papyrus?"

"if my bro is happy, i'm happy." It was the only thing that was keeping Mettaton alive.

"Aw, that's sweet." Alphys cooed.

"anyway, about this date and roleplay?" Sans reminded impatiently.

"Right! Well it was a long time ago, before Undyne and I got together. You see, I couldn't fess up my feelings for Undyne so I told her a bunch of lies so she would think I'm this really cool person when I'm not and I spun a web of lies so large and complex that I couldn't get myself out of it so I met Frisk and we talked and Frisk sent me this letter which was really from Undyne but I thought it was from Frisk and I didn't give Frisk time to explain anyway it was the most romantic thing I have ever read and it asked me out on a date so thinking it was Frisk and not Undyne I mustered my courage and took Frisk to the dump in my best dress but it wasn't a real date to me it was just a pretend date because I could never like Frisk that way but they were just so young and cute and innocent I couldn't bear to hurt their feelings so yeah then we went on a date but I was too nervous and Frisk came up with the great idea of roleplay so I pretended to be Undyne and I got carried away talking about her luscious lips but then she appeared out of nowhere and overheard what I said and I was so embarrassed but Frisk told me to tell her the truth and stop lying not only to her but to myself so I told her how I felt and she threw me into the garbage can and confessed her feelings for me too then Papyrus came out of nowhere and we had to jog a thousand laps only I couldn't even make one and I collapsed and he tucked me into bed so that's it!"

Sans nearly dropped his phone.

"Um. Sans?"

"yeah. i heard."

"Right. Um, I probably didn't explain roleplay very well."

"nah. i got the gist of it."

"Oh, you did? Good! Glad I could help."

"yeah. thanks. later, alphs."

"Bye!" She hung up before he did.

 _well… that was… bizarre._

So he kind of got what he wanted from Alphys and Undyne. Apparently Undyne is... 'Sensitive' about her friendship status with Frisk, so maybe they're not as close as he thought. That makes sense, considering Frisk is a bit of a replacement for Papyrus when he's not around to entertain her. So being a substitute wouldn't result in the type of friendship Undyne insisted they had. Alphys, on the other hand, actually went on a date with Frisk! That ticked him off. First his brother, then Alphys? And ever since Frisk aired on Mettaton's show when they fought all those years ago, there emerged a subtle fan base. So yeah, Frisk was secretly popular, and not as inexperienced as Sans had hoped.

This was going to be more difficult than he thought.

At the very least, Frisk seemed to have purely platonic relationships with the women. So maybe Frisk wasn't inclined in _that direction_ , which meant he might have a chance! If Frisk was going to date anybody, it'd probably be someone from the group, after all, they didn't socialize with anyone else other than a casual greeting or light conversation. Alphys and Undyne were already married, and Sans knew Frisk was no home-wrecker, but it was good information to have that there was no pre-existing love triangle that might still be under wraps.

And as much as it bothered Sans, the budding relationship between _that sassy box_ and his brother might prove to be another playing piece in his favor. Frisk never displayed any interest in Mettaton, not did he in Frisk, there was no doubt in his mind that if Frisk was into men, Mettaton wasn't their type.

So that left him and Papyrus.

A shudder traveled down his spine. If Frisk would develop a crush on anybody from the group, chances are it would be a split tie between him and his brother. After all, Papyrus hadn't been cuffed _yet_.

Sans felt himself breaking into a sweat. This suddenly became an issue larger than he imagined. Frisk was extremely close to Papyrus. They did all sorts of things together- cooking, exercising, talking, playing with his puzzles… They had years of active friendship behind them, while Sans was clearly as much as Frisk's friend as Papyrus was, would all those days eating, napping and telling puns compare to the myriad of things Frisk and Papyrus did together?

He started to feel guilty.

He can't choose between Frisk and his brother. Papyrus obviously had a thing for Mettaton, but then again, he's been awfully aloof lately. What was the hold-up? Alphys mentioned something about them not being an "official couple". Frisk and Papyrus went on that date too. They got friend-zoned, but enough years had passed for them to be a viable date-option now. What _if_ they liked each other?

He had to be sure. Since he knew he wasn't going to bother collecting gossip from that _smart-mouthed robot_ , he would go bother his brother during his shift. Sans dragged his feet through the snow.

If his brother _did_ have feelings for Frisk, he wouldn't intervene. It would break his own heart, but he could never discourage Papyrus's feelings for Frisk. He would push him to pursue them and to stop messing with Mettaton. Then Sans would lock himself away in his room while he ate his feelings and slowly slipped into a food coma.

He didn't feel hungry or motivated walking into Grillby's. There his brother was, hastily and haphazardly serving food to diners in his hat and apron. "THERE YOU ARE." "AND THIS IS FOR YOU." "OH, AND WOULD YOU LIKE MUSTARD WITH THAT?" Sans sat in a far-off corner, too down on his luck to approach Papyrus.

"SANS!" Papyrus noticed much-too-quickly. He happily strolled over. "I'M GUESSING YOU'RE HERE FOR MORE FREEBIES HMMM?" He squinted. Sans was already accepting the possibility of letting Frisk go, and it diminished his appetite. Still, he had to play it cool.

"if you're offering." He shrugged.

Papyrus rolled his eye sockets. "YES, YES, I FIGURED. GIVE ME ONE MOMENT." Grillby gave Papyrus a knowing nod and he went to fetch Sans some hot wings with chili cheese fries. As if he expected Sans to show up, the food was already ready to be served. Grillby slid a tall glass of root beer over the counter.

"thanks grillz. mind giving paps his break right now?"

"SANS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEVER NEEDS A BREAK! BREAKS ARE FOR THE WEAK." Grillby happily obliged, it wasn't a problem considering Papyrus never took any of his breaks. It was slowly driving Grillby nuts actually- Papyrus was one hyper-active skeleton.

The tall skeleton begrudgingly took his lunch break and sat down next to his brother. "BROTHER, YOU CANNOT BARGE IN HERE AND DEMAND THAT I TAKE A BREAK. YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE ME LOOK LIKE I LACK A WORK ETHIC."

"eh. grillby doesn't mind."

"NEVERMIND. SO, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING TODAY BROTHER? UP TO NO GOOD I SURMISE?"

"up to nothing." He admitted.

"WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED?"

"i got something that will surprise you."

"MORE OF YOUR PUNS." Papyrus lamented.

"no, no. not at the moment. it's a question."

Papyrus lit up. "REALLY? THEN LET'S HEAR IT!" He awaited excitedly.

"yeah. so… who do you find attractive?"

Papyrus appeared so confounded by such a simple question his eye orbs couldn't look straight. "NYEH?!" He panicked.

"don't panic bro, we're havin a guy discussion. you crushin on anyone right now?"

"DON'T YOU KNOW THAT IS PRIVATE INFORMATION? THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD NEVER REVEAL HIS TRUE AFFECTIONS FOR THE GLAMOROUS SUPERSTAR THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE A RECTANGLE!" Yep. He liked Mettaton alright. Sans couldn't be so sure about Frisk though.

"you ain't crushin on _anybody_ else?"

Papyrus became extremely flushed and agitated. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS'S NOBLE HEART COULD NEVER BE SO FEEBLE! NO, THE GREAT PAPYRUS GIVES ROMANCE HIS ALL! TO SPREAD HIS FLAMES ACROSS THE UNDERGROUND WOULD ONLY SCORCH THE CHANCES OF EVER FINDING TRUE LOVE. THEREFORE, MY FIRES RESIDE IN A SINGLE HEARTH!" He poses with a hand on his hip and the other arm outstretched with his finger pointing to the distance, a bright glimmer in his eye sockets.

"you mean it, bro?" Sans felt himself lightening up.

"SANS. EVEN THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN ADMIT HAVING SO MANY ADORING FANS IS A HEAVY BURDEN TO BEAR SOMETIMES. THERE SIMPLY ISN'T ENOUGH PAPYRUS TO GO AROUND. AFTER ALL, I AM A SKELETON OF VERY HIGH STANDARDS." Sans had to hide his growing smile underneath his sleeve.

"what about frisk?"

"WHAT _ABOUT_ FRISK?" Papyrus asked back, confused.

"nuthin." Sans brushed him off.

Papyrus draped his arm around his brother. "AH, SANS. I AM TOUCHED YOU CARE SO DEEPLY ABOUT MY WELL-BEING. FEAR NOT BROTHER, THE GREAT PAPYRUS MAY BE LOVED BY ONE AND ALL, BUT YOU WILL ALWAYS BE THE THEORETICAL APPLE OF MY NON-EXISTENT EYE."

"you've got such a way with words bro."

"NYEH HEH HEH! WAS THERE EVER ANY DOUBT? I AM A POETIC WORDSMITH!" Sans found his appetite again and devoured the wings and chili fries.

He left the restaurant and wiped his forehead, heaving a sigh of relief. Sans was free to pursue the human of his dreams without fear! ..." _aw crud."_ He just remembered. He needed to speak to Toriel!


	14. Chapter 14

Sans power-walked his way to the ruins (to the surprise of many villagers, for they had never seen him walk so fast) and rang Toriel up on her cell.

"Hello, this is Toriel."

"hey tori, mind if i come over?"

She seemed pleased by the idea. "Sans, you are always welcome here. Will you be seeing Frisk today?"

Sans clammed up at the sound of their name. _"you dummy! how could you forget frisk lives there?!"_ He remembered. "i mean if they're around, but i really wanted to see _you_ today." Even though he would more than happy to spirit Frisk away and have them all to himself.

"And what would you want with an old lady like me?" Toriel asked coyly.

"you know what i want." Sans responded deviously.

Toriel was smirking on the other line. "Then I shall give you what you desire." She teased.

In Toriel's home, Sans was sat at the table being served hot cocoa and marshmallows. "You must be cold living in Snowdin every day."

"nah. no flesh." He accepted the cocoa anyway. "where's frisk?"

"Tending the flowers." Toriel poured herself a mug of the hot drink. "Sans, I have a few puns to share." He leaned on his elbows to listen. Toriel cleared her throat. "Ahem! Why do sad ghosts prefer to take the elevator rather than the stairs?"

"i don't know tori, why?" Sans smiled.

"To lift their spirits!" Toriel chortled.

The two of them laughed a bit too loudly for such a dry joke. "Here is another one: Two vampires are having a conversation. One is very full, because he just fed, while the other is quite hungry, he has not fed in a long time. The fat vampire says to the skinny vampire 'So I heard you're having trouble finding your _necks_ victim'." They burst into guffaws.

"don't be too hard on them tori, i heard being a vampire really _sucks._ " Sans was banging his fist on the table from amusement. "i just thought of one." He proposed.

"Ooh yes, please do tell." She clapped happily.

"why did the skeleton not want to go to the dance?"

She awaited his answer with a baited breath.

"He didn't want to go all **_a-bone._** "

Again, the two snicker and giggle uncontrollably. "Oh Sans, you never know, maybe he had _two left feet!_ "

Sans nearly fell off his chair.

"why did the _other_ skeleton not go to the dance?" He says through strained gasps.

She stifles her giggles. "W-why not?"

"he had **_no-body_** to go with!"

Toriel shrieked in delight. "That's probably because he was **spineless!** "

Sans could feel his ribs closing in from all of the laughing. He clutched his sides in sweet pain.

"This is my last one Sans. I thought of it just for you. What is a **_fibula?_** "

He cocked his skull to the side, both perplexed and interested.

"A little lie!" She barley gets through her snorts. Sans tilted his skull back in loud, heavy laughter. The two were on the brink of tears from their puns.

"i found that joke quite **_humerus._** " He adds. The sounds of their ridiculously loud laughter could be heard throughout the ruins.

It took several minutes for them to regulate their breathing. Toriel wiped a tear from her eye. "You are such a joy to have here."

"aw, you're embarrassing me." They spoke no further, only making eye contact to grin cheekily, then burst into laughter over and over. Sans was having such a good time, he forgot the whole reason he came here in the first place.

"You want my Frisk."

" _SSSSPPPPFFFTTT!_ " He spat out the contents of his mug all over the table. Toriel seemed unfazed by the spray. She only nodded and got up to fetch a rag, then returned to wipe down the mess. Sans on the other hand, was struggling to overcome his coughing fit. "*cough* i-i'm sorry tori. *cough*cough* didn't mean to be a slob." Her eyes are fixed on him.

"It's quite alright Sans. Frisk is a good person, and you two have been the best of friends. It was only a matter of time."

How could she see right through him so easily? How long had she known?! Toriel laughs at Sans vulnerable state. "Sans, I've been a mother and a wife before this. I see the way you look at them." Sans wiped his dripping mouth with his sleeve, unsure of what to say. Toriel looks at him sympathetically. "You might as well fess up now if you ever want to gain my blessing. I would not trust my child with a liar."

He cleared his throat. "d-do the others know?" He admitted, feeling the cold blush coloring his cheek bones.

She shook her head. "To my knowledge, they do not. They are… Oblivious to such things. Perhaps because they are too preoccupied with their own agendas." Sans sighed in relief. Toriel suddenly sits beside him and takes his hands in her own.

"huh?"

Her tone exudes authority and firmness. "I do not mean to frighten you, but I suppose you could say... I've been waiting for this to happen."

"uh. really now?" Sans said nervously.

The grip on his hands became tighter. "Yes. Sans. Do you not realize how lonely it must be for Frisk to be the only one of their kind down here?" Sans all of a sudden understood why he found Frisk crying in a barren corner of Hotland, and why they liked to sit in the company of the statue.

He closed his eye sockets. "actually, i do."

She nods. "They're growing up fast Sans. We've both noticed. I've been watching to see if they've developed any… attachment." He perked right up. She patted his hand. "I'm afraid, I am unsure if they view you in a romantic light." He slumped right back down again. Toriel sighs. "The sad truth is, my work is nearly done. Frisk is reaching adulthood and entering _that age._ " Toriel lifts up her head and looks at Sans with knowing eyes. "You know how people are Sans. We desire companionship at some point or another in our lives. You've had your brother, and Frisk had me. But we both know that neither Papyrus nor I can fill in that special gap in the both of your hearts." Sans wrapped his boney fingers around Toriel's.

"I've given them everything I can. I even thought about handing down the throne."

"not sure if that's the brightest idea." Sans quickly piped in.

"Hush. I know what it is best. And I can plainly see… That Frisk does not desire such a responsibility." Sans opts to say nothing. "If they ever change their mind, I will gladly retire. However, if you are to pursue them, you will have to accept that they-"

"might become the new monarch." Sans finished. Toriel stares him down. His expression becomes defeated and cold. He loosens his grip. "i would not… make a good king." He says painfully.

Toriel smiles warmly to Sans's confusion. "I was mistaken. You _love_ Frisk."

He fidgets in place. "c'mon tori. 'love' is a strong word." His eye orbs shift left and right. She tugs at his hands.

"Be an adult Sans. What you feel isn't mere infatuation. We all love Frisk. But your love is unique."

He could feel himself starting to shake, Sans did not want Toriel to see him this way, he clenched his boney fists.

"You don't have to worry about becoming a fit ruler, _I_ married into royalty."

Sans clenched fists instantly relaxed.

"Yes. You see? If it happens, you will learn. You only need to focus on being a good husband."

"whoa there,who said anything about getting _hitched?!_ " Sans didn't mean to shout.

"Heehee. If they willingly receiving your advances then that would make you their boyfriend would it not? And if you two remain together for some time, eventually you will be married. I want grandchildren." Toriel winks.

The back of his skull was sweating from the pressure.

She finally releases him. "Make me another promise will you? Promise me you will be good to them. Protect them and care for them like you always have."

He did not speak, but he felt his head slowly nodding.

"I knew I could count on you Sans." She collects the cups and heads back to the kitchen. "By the way…" She calls across the room.

He tilts his skull in her direction, still with the same expression on his face.

"I am expert on such things, if I do say so myself. And if you ever need advice, feel free to seek me out. I would be happy to give you-" She sniggers, extremely proud of herself. " A **_tu-Toriel!_** "


	15. Chapter 15

_"so that's it?"_ Sans questioned as he walked through the ruins, casually avoiding the puzzle mechanisms along the way. Toriel knew all along. Now _that_ was scary to imagine. What could she have been thinking this whole time? He shook his head, a hand to his to skullcap. " _ugh. too much thinking, that's for sure. the woman's got big plans."_ Seriously though, _grandchildren?_ Tori just had no off-button!

Sans was nearly halfway to the ruin's edge when he came across couple of froggits.

"Good day to you sir." The larger of the two greeted.

"hiya?" He raised a brow.

The smaller froggit hopped forward and did a little bow. "Are you perhaps searching for the princess?"

"who? _princess?_ " They couldn't be talking about Frisk.

The two froggits exchanged knowing glances. "My Lord Sans, our deepest apologies. I believe you are looking for the prince, yes?" Explained the larger and stronger-looking froggit.

' _My Lord Sans'_? Is that what people were calling him outside of Snowdin? "oh, you mean frisk? then yeah. and uh. just sans will do."

"Excuse me Lord Sans, but _the princess_ is your human friend, right?" The smaller and weaker-looking froggit asked.

"i have a human friend, but i don't recall them being any princess." He chuckled.

"Indeed. Lord Sans is searching for _the prince._ " The bigger one insisted.

"nah. don't know any princes either. i _do_ know a human kid that likes to wear striped shirts. and last i checked, i'm no lord." Sans pointed out.

"So are you, or are you not searching for the prince?"

"Of course not, he's looking for the pretty princess!"

Sans sighed and shook his head. _"so i'm not the only one who can't tell."_ He made his way around them.

The smaller froggit spoke up. "What? Where are you going? You don't like your new title? It took us forever to come up with that!"

The bigger, armored froggit blocked him and shot his companion a glare. The smaller froggit shrinked. "What he means, My Lord, is that you have generated a certain respect for your past glories. Beyond our borders you acted as a representative for our kind. And you did assist the queen with the spell that keeps our protective barrier intact."

Sans didn't think it was that big of a deal. "it was nothin. i just happened to be around."

"If you insist My Lord." The two froggits seemed disappointed.

Sans could feel his eye orbs rolling. " _man, this guy is such a stiff."_ He did a quick once over of the monster… " _but he's a final froggit, so that makes sense._ "

"look, the name is great. i just need to-"

"We'll think of a new title for you! How does Sir Sans sound?" The smaller froggit exclaimed excitedly.

"fantastic, but i really should be getting a move on-"

"I believe Master Sans is more appropriate." The final froggit said to the regular froggit.

"But Master Undyne already has that title! What about Jarl Sans?"

"That will not do."

The smaller one tried again. "His Highness?"

Again the final froggit shook his head. "He is of high standing, but we cannot address him on grounds equal to royalty."

Sans started slowly creeping away from the growing argument.

"Majesty!" The small one blurted.

"No, no, no. He isn't even part of the royal family!"

With a sigh of relief, he picked up his pace and tried not to draw any attention to himself.

"In the garden." A gentle voice called out to him.

Sans shot his head down to discover a third, ridiculously tiny froggit. He expected another distraction, his growing impatience noticeable by his tapping foot.

"They didn't tell you where they were, so I thought I'd help."

Sans felt himself relaxing now. "thanks." He continued walking.

"You were headed in the right direction anyway, so I guess you already knew where you were going."

"mhm." He responded.

The froggit hopped a few times to keep up with his pace. "Do you? Like them?"

Sans stopped. Something was off about this third one. "that's a mighty personal question to ask a stranger bucko. what do you think? we've known each other for ten years."

The little froggit shook its head. "No, I mean, do you _like-like_ them?"

He frowned. This was none of their business.

The froggit smiled. "Don't worry, I won't tell."

Sans patted the froggit on its head, put his hands in his pockets and kept walking.

"Good luck!" The nosy froggit called, sending her best wishes.

Sans was feeling his nerves getting the best of him. " _at this rate, the whole underground is gonna figure me out."_ He grumbled to himself. " _aw, screw it"._ " _this settles it. i'm just gonna go for it. as soon as i see frisk, i'm gonna ask them out."_ He was tired of this. At least if they turned him down, he could play it off as a joke. It would all be over and done with. He was already thinking of the buffet line of comfort food he would need to counter the depression of his imminent rejection.

"there they are."

Frisk was curled up in a bed of golden flowers, their arms loosely wrapped around an empty pot, eyes shut in peaceful slumber and their hair spread across the ground in long, elegant strands. The sun's rays all focused on this one spot, where the sleeping human fell to their fate a full decade ago. Sans quietly and carefully crept to their side. He played with a few strands of Frisk's hair. " _god, i remember when you were just a kid."_ He thought to himself, his earlier confidence fading fast. Could he really do this?

Sans lost track of how long he was watching them sleep, but something about the soft flower bed, the fragrant floral perfume, the warm sun, and the peaceful expression of the person sleeping beside him made him feel drowsy. Before he knew it, he was on his back, inches away from Frisk, and his eye sockets were fluttering shut.

Frisk could feel their right side going numb, still asleep they turned themselves over to the left to get more comfortable. Until they bumped into something. Frisk felt around with to examine the hard substance they had conked their nose on. What was this thing? It was so big and solid, but there was a soft fabric over it. They dug their fingers under the fabric, traced for any sign of familiarity and found a gap to wrap their fingers around. Then Frisk felt a distinctive shape and their eyes flew open!

They awoke to find themselves draped around Sans, who was snoring loudly, oblivious to his position. Frisk's hands rested on his ribs, underneath his shirt! And their head was laid on his arm! When did this happen? Frisk couldn't recall seeing Sans today. They slowly lifted themselves to examine their surroundings. The sky had turned orange, the clouds now pink, the last light of day shone upon them, making their shadows long. Shifting and grumbling pulled them from their thoughts. Sans was looking a little uncomfortable without his sleeping partner, his boney fingers were expanding and retracting, looking for the missing weight that was once there. Frisk stared at him, at first confused.

But they smiled when the boney fingers found their target, padded and prodded around a little, then tugged Frisk back down to lay with him, his arms wrapping around them to ensure no escaping this time. Frisk was very amused, but then Sans grabbed one of their hands and put it back under his shirt to rest on one of his ribs, making a motion for Frisk to rub it. They sent him a look, wondering if he was awake, but when he turned his face towards them Frisk saw that he was indeed in a deep sleep. They wondered, being that they were now trapped, one of their hands being held hostage, if they should bother waking him up.

"*yawn* this is my new favorite place to nap."

That faker! Frisk playfully punched his ribs.

"hey, hey, hey. what are ya trying to do? make music?"

Frisk giggled and sat upright. Sans stretched and laid his arms behind his skull. "you've been holding out on me, some friend you are- i mean, this spot is just perfect for a snooze. ya think you'd help a lazy skeleton out."

Frisk hadn't meant to fall asleep, but they had been especially stressed lately worrying about Flowey.

"hey, isn't that?" Sans motioned to the empty flower pot cradled in Frisk's other arm.

They nodded.

"that crazy flower hasn't escaped has he?"

Frisk couldn't understand how he remembered Flowey when nobody else did, but then again, he knew a lot of things he shouldn't. They shrugged in response.

Sans bolted upright. "what do you mean you don't know? i expect that sort of laid back behavior from me, not you."

There was no answer for him. Asriel mentioned something about turning back into a flower, but when he did, the flower did not speak or move. Frisk kept close watch on it for months, before the craziness happened, but it never animated. They planned on keeping it in a pot so they could tend it in their room. That didn't get to happen. Ever since Frisk returned, they hadn't been able to find the original flower that hosted Asriel's soul. Soon after they were freed, Frisk asked Toriel and Asgore to check the garden frequently for a funny flower, but they never understood the odd request. Frisk still helps Toriel tend the garden even after all this time, hoping that if they ever found Flowey again they could keep him from doing bad. But nine years had passed, and Frisk assumed either Asriel was finally at rest or that Flowey was gone for good. What else could be done?

"a good chunk of time has passed, guess that pesky weed is finally gone."

Frisk shot him that same look of shock and confusion they had when he revealed his knowledge of the timelines.

He waved them off. "yeah, yeah i know. but you know what's weird? i think might have met him even before you did."

Frisk looked even more incredulous.

"don't ask me how, but i swear i've met that flower before. must be why i never felt comfortable around plants, they just give me the creeps. 'cept the echo flowers, they're my **_buds._** "

Frisk smirked at him.

He finally lifted himself up. "anyway, if i've met him before that means he's a time traveler too. and if he's the reason i don't like flowers much, whatever he did must've been no good. glad he's gone."

Frisk began making their way out of the garden, but Sans caught hold of their arm. "hold up a minute will ya? i wanna ask you something."

Frisk gave him their undivided attention.

Yes, if he was ever going to confess, it would be now. He had gone through too much stress, embarrassment, and inner turmoil to give up on his endeavors. Their situation couldn't be any more opportunistic. They were alone, the sun was setting, they had just awoken from their slumber on a bed of flowers, and to his delight he found them snuggled against him!

This was the perfect time and place to ask someone out. What could be more romantic?

" _*BUZZ*BUZZ*BUZZZZ*"_ His phone began ringing. Frisk took several steps back to allow him to answer his phone call. Sans carefully took it out of his pocket, and slowly raised it to his non-existent ear. He was absolutely furious, but he couldn't freak out in front of Frisk.

"yo." He answered casually.

"BROTHER! I REQUIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE."

Sans glanced at Frisk patiently waiting for him to finish talking. "uh bro, think you can handle it solo?"

Papyrus wailed over the phone. "IT PAINS THE GREAT PAPYRUS TO ASK FOR AID, BUT MASTER UNDYNE IS UNCONCSIOUS, AND UH… SHE IS HEAVIER THAN I THOUGHT."

Sans put up a finger to buy himself some time. "did you try pouring water on her?"

"I THOUGHT OF THAT, YES, BUT SEEING HOW MOST OF THE WATER AROUND HERE IS FROZEN, I THOUGHT DROPPING SNOW ON HER WOULD BE JUST AS GOOD!"

"didn't work huh?"

"NO, IT DIDN'T."

"she alright?"

"WELL, I FOUND HER PLAYING WITH LUMP IN THE YARD- AND BY PLAYING I MEAN CHUCKING HIM AS FAR AS SHE COULD THROW. SHE TOLD ME YOU GAVE HER THE GREENLIGHT TO 'KNOCK HERSELF OUT' WITH CARING FOR LUMP. I'M AFRAID SHE TOOK THAT NOTION QUITE LITERALLY. AS POOR LUMP RICOCHETED OFF THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE AND HIT UNDYNE SQUARE IN THE FOREHEAD."

Sans couldn't believe what he was hearing. How conveniently inconvenient it was.

"FEAR NOT BROTHER, YOUR BELOVED PET ROCK IS SAFE AND SOUND. STILL, MASTER UNDYNE-"

"you didn't call alphys?"

"HMMM, I ALREADY THOUGHT OF THAT."

"she didn't pick up."

"NO! SHE DID NOT! PLEASE BROTHER, I'M AFRAID I'VE GOTTEN HER HAIR CAUGHT IN THE DOOR FRAME IN MY ATTEMPT TO DRAG HER INTO THE HOUSE." Papyrus shuddered. "IF SHE AWAKENS…"

"hang on paps, i'm comin."

He hung up. Frisk had overheard a bit of the conversation and was motioning for him to go on without them. He sighed and shook his skull. "oh well, another time. smell ya later."

Sans walked out of the ruins without another word. This wasn't the same case for his mind however, which was now full of foul swears.


	16. Chapter 16

Alphys, Undyne and Frisk were enjoying a pleasant meal of onigiri, dumplings and sushi rolls while the green tea was steeping on the stove. Thankfully, it was ordered and not home-cooked, Undyne really was tired of wrecking her house and sleeping over with the skeletons. To celebrate her home's umpteenth reconstruction-and Alphy's brilliant addition of fireproof coating and a super strong titanium foundation- the girls decided to have lunch together. No anime or k-pop, just a quiet, pleasant meal between three friends. Undyne, though itching for some destruction, was being well-behaved, and Alphys in the comforting company of her wife and one of her best friends, was actually holding decent conversation without so much as a stutter.

"Ya hear about Papyrus's new special attack?" Undyne mentioned out of nowhere.

Frisk and Alphys gave her a queer glance.

"You mean his 'blue' attack?" Alphys puzzled.

"No! I mean the guy has **two separate specials** now! How in the hell is that even possible?!" Undyne shouted, standing up and slamming her palms on the table.

"Oh. That has to be... Because of Mettaton!" Alphys said proudly, supposedly knowing more than what was led to believe "Those two spend almost all of their time together now that they're official co-stars on Mettaton's cooking channel." She giggled girlishly. "I-I think... it must be the power of love!"

Undyne made an adorable face, "Aww. That's sweet." but then saw the stares she was getting from her wife and friend and quickly shook it off. "Uh, I mean. Eeyick! Gross! What do you mean _love?!_ "

"I mean, maybe a bit of Mettaton has rubbed off on Papyrus. Sometimes Papyrus will beg Mettaton to train with him, and I remember he got especially enthusiastic one day and imitated his attack."

Frisk and Undyne both gasped and leaned in closer to listen. "You for real?!" Undyne gaped, eyes glistening in excitement.

"Totally real!" Alphys answered shyly. "The data I've collected from those two is very intriguing. This opens up a whole new world of combat possibilities for monsters."

"Man, I'm jealous. I want ten special attacks!" Undyne bashed her clenched fist onto the table and it shook the surface so hard that her mug tipped over. "That giant walking-stick isn't gonna outfight ME!"

"That reminds me, do you remember the day we strengthened the seal? I mean, I really didn't think it was going to work... Then we got to see everyone's auras and jeez those weren't what I expected. Especially-" Alphys admitted.

"Yeah, that ticks me too. _His_ heart was blue. Pap's was cyan. I didn't expect to see a damn thing from that guy. I mean, what does he even have STATS for, am I right?" Undyne said scratching her chin.

"Does that mean… Sans is... a _boss monster?_ " Alphys realized.

The three of them exchanged looks of astonishment.

"Nah!" Undyne snorted.

Alphys couldn't help but laugh through her nose.

Frisk gave them both a sideways frown.

"I mean, scientifically we have to assume he is. So, that means… I am too?" Alphys blushed incredibly.

" _Hey_ , it does! That's so cool Alphys!" She affectionately kissed her wife on the lips. "~Mmm~. But if we have to accept the facts, then let's face it. If _Sans_ is a boss monster, then that means if he were in a video game, he'd be the easiest boss in the game! Fuhuhuhuhuh!"

"Do you mean the first boss or the tutorial boss? Oh, we're starting to gossip again."

"Who cares? It's not really gossip if we don't spread it around. Papyrus, now _he's_ a gossip!"

"I'm just glad it turned out the way it did. I don't think we could've pulled it off with six souls." Alphys blurted. "Oh!" She quickly cupped her hands over her mouth.

"What do ya mean?" Undyne and Frisk both wondered.

"W-well… We needed seven souls to break free. And it took all seven to destroy the barrier, with the exception that Frisk got to keep their soul. But still, it took seven, not six."

"But we had seven. So what's the deal?" Undyne pondered.

"I-I-I.. Ju-just mean, since... I mean we had Muffet, so w-we were fortunate. But Toriel couldn't, a-and if Sans wasn't a boss monster... Then we'd be two souls down. And I-I turned out to be a b-boss too, but if I wasn't... then we'd be down three." Alphys was breaking out into a sweat.

Undyne gasped, her eyes completely white. "Wait, so are you saying the barrier still might not be perfect, even after all this time, after what we did?! Why are you bringing this up now?!"

"No! Not at all! I'm constantly analyzing the seal, and it hasn't faltered. I haven't been able to detect a new weakness yet, either. So… what is there to worry about right?" She shrugged.

"Oh, I was about to break something." Undyne sighed, a hand to her chest. She started counting with her fingers. "Uh... Red, Purple, Yellow, Green. We needed three more souls. The Orange, Cyan, and Blue." She thought harder. "Hmmm. Sans turned out to be blue-which was lucky I guess- Papywimp was light blue-kinda expected- and you were orange! How would we be a soul short?" Undyne couldn't grasp.

"Uh, uh... If I w-wasn't a boss monster... And A-a-asgore..."

" _ **Oh.**_ " Undyne lamented, visibly growing sadder.

"N-n-no! I was just thinking about what if Sans wasn't a boss monster after all and we needed a blue soul but since Papyrus has his blue attack he'd probably be capable of filling in for him so I was really surprised since Papyrus turned out to be blue but a lighter blue not the dark blue and I was so confused then Sans came forward out of _nowhere_ and said he might be able to help and I already knew Mettaton would help and Muffet too so long as we paid her but then we still needed orange and Toriel insisted that she had never used her special attack so we had no idea what color her aura was plus she was so weak that she might not have made it afterward so even if she had what we needed we wouldn't be able to use her then you all convinced me to give it a try and it worked however what if the scenario was switched and Sans turned out to not have a color and Papyrus stepped in for him then we would still be short of the cyan soul and if I didn't work either then we would be short both a cyan and orange soul and personally I have never met a monster with souls that color so I thought about Asgore who uses both cyan and orange attacks and..." She took a loud breath. "I-I'm sorry!" Alphys hurriedly apologized.

"No, it's fine. It _is_ science right? That's your thing. You gotta think about stuff like that." Undyne patted her wife on the head.

"The seal currently allows the passage of weather, but nothing else. Before it used to be that anything without a soul wasn't affected, but that was too risky. We've also eliminated the 'bruises'. It's _almost perfect_ with the exception that we can't get out. If it were _truly perfect_ , we'd be able to go in and out as we pleased, while intruders wouldn't be able to get in no matter how hard they tried. Unfortunately, w-we didn't have enough magic."

Frisk understood her completely. Alphys was implying that if they had Asgore's help, such an absolute form of protection _might_ have been possible. They had all seven souls just like the humans did during the Old War, but what she didn't bring up to Undyne was that if Asgore had been alive at the time he could've acted as an outside source, and perhaps with whatever color his soul was they could've produced a spell stronger than the one they were imitating- allowing more flexibility. The barrier would affect everything _but_ them. In its current state, it affects everyone- _including_ them. However, even if such an ideal was the case, it's only speculation. It's a theory, a theory Alphys does not wish to share.

Undyne grumbled to herself and was trying very hard to follow the nerd mumbo-jumbo.

"You know… We should talk about something else." Alphys suggested.

"Yeah. So Frisk, how about it? Toriel doesn't want you to be her heir anymore?" Undyne asked brazenly.

"U-undyne! Isn't that kinda… outspoken?" Her wife scolded.

Frisk shrugge. Toriel hasn't taken them on any trips to the capital anymore, she goes on her own. Frisk even offers to tag along, but Toriel insists they stay home and invite Sans over. In fact, all Toriel ever does nowadays is push Frisk to spend time with Sans. She calls him, invites him for dinner, leaves suddenly for them to "have time alone", and she does an awful lot of snickering whenever his name is mentioned.

"Hmm. Guess it was too risky. Who wants to be a monarch anyway? Politics are BORING." Undyne laughed.

She reached to wrap her arm over her wife's shoulder, but felt her hand fall limp on empty space. "Huh?" Undyne turned her head to find Alphys crouching over her phone, her back to them. "Is something up babe?"

Hearing her lover call her by one of her pet names broke Alphys out of her trance. "Oh! S-sorry. It's just. It's happening again. That weird thing."

Undyne and Frisk both leaned over the table. "Yeah? You're seeing it on the cameras right now?" Undyne asked, intrigued.

"Yes. It's the same as always. They gather, listen to the old man with the funny beard and tall hat make a speech about 'redemption' and 'justice' then they all march off-screen chanting or shouting and holding up signs."

Frisk jumped from the seat, the man she described _had to be_ the mayor.

The three of them huddled close and watched the tiny phone's screen without blinking. Frisk eye's shot fully open. This wasn't a festival, it wasn't a holiday, it was a band of protestors! They gasped and shook Alphys hard by the shoulders.

"W-wah! What is it? What is it?" She worried.

Frisk pointed their finger to the white banner on the screen.

"Oh! Look, look! We can finally read what that banner says. The crowd usually gathers right in front of the cameras, and they're so loud we can barely make out the speech."

Undyne was getting excited. "We never to get to see anything, except for human butts. What does it say?"

"Gah! Now there's too many people in the way! I can only make out the word M-O-N-S-T-E-R-S…"

Undyne growled and slammed her fist onto the table again. "What use are these cameras if they never let us see anything?!"

"I-I'm sorry. But we had to hide them in places no one would look. I had no clue they were going to stand right in front of them. But at least we have new data! So they've been protesting all this time? Whatever it is, they're very angry about it. We weren't that far off. First we thought it was riot, then we thought it could be a party…"

Undyne shook her head. "A couple of years in a row the crowd came back sobbing and beaten up. Now they just return looking disappointed. Whatever it is that they want, what makes them think they're gonna get it this time? Ya think the dumbasses would learn after nine years."

Alphys turned to face Frisk. "And you're positive the town has never done this before. It's not some type of tradition?"

Frisk was absolutely sure. The old town never gathered up and marched somewhere for hours on end to return for no reason.

"We still have almost nothing to go on." Alphys sighed.

Undyne grabbed the phone and clicked it off. "Forget it! Humans just make less and less sense to me! We watch these idiots every year and all we've discovered is that they like to protest about something that never changes? Like I said, politics are BOOORIIIING!"

"Undyne, give it back! We finally have a clue about what they're doing and whatever they're protesting makes them angry and has to do with monsters!"

" _Uggggh..._ **Give it up Alphys! I didn't watch half of my platoon die and lose my best friend to give a** ** _fuck_** **about what those humans want!** " Undyne suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs.

Frisk jumped in alarm. Alphys too was frightened. But years of being married to such a hurricane of woman had steeled her.

"Undyne, calm down!" Alphys commanded bravely, though she was shaking.

" **I DON'T WANT TO CALM DOWN!** " Undyne shouted, taking out her anger by punching a hole in the wall. (Breaking the titanium framework, mind you.)

"Frisk, go home!" Alphys said bravely, standing up to Undyne the Undying herself.

As much as Frisk wanted to help, this wasn't their place to intrude. Alphys would be fine, this type of thing had been happening a lot lately. Frisk bolted out of the door and ran straight for the caves.


	17. Chapter 17

Just in time too. For as soon as the door closed behind them they heard a horrible splinting sound and felt a massive wave of heat. The aftershock knocked them face-forward and when Frisk turned around to assess the damage, Undyne's spearhead was piercing through the front door. Against Alphy's better judgement, they ran to the window to make sure the arguing had not produced any accidents.

Frisk peeked through and sighed in relief. Though Undyne just might give them a mouthful of flaming spear if she ever found out that Frisk witnessed this scene: Undyne was on her knees, one hand covering her face in shame as hot tears rained down her face. Alphys, though shaken, was acting very mature and supportive- rubbing her wife's back and planting many small kisses on her forehead. Frisk knew they had seen too much and quickly removed themselves from the window.

There was no longer a need to run, still they did a quick jog until out of sight and slowed their pace to a brisk walk as they entered the watery caves. Frisk didn't know what to do next, but that was decided for them when their phone rang. They quickly answered the call and held the phone to their ear.

"wattup?"

Sans has the scariest and most coincidental timing Frisk had ever seen.

"frisk, meet me at that special place." Without giving a chance to respond, he hung up.

Wasn't he lucky that it wasn't too far from the waterfall now? However, as they walked deeper into the caves, they felt a twinge of worry. The past couple of weeks have felt very wrong. Sans's cryptic phone call didn't make the situation any better. Frisk began dreading the motive behind his sudden appearance.

Everyone was on edge. Toriel was the first. She began sleeping in, eating less, and Frisk knew from her tired eyes that wasn't getting enough rest. Toriel took more trips to the capital-what she used to make her duty avoiding- and had even burned a few meals in the oven. Frisk did what any good child would do: give her back rubs, offer to cook dinner and send mother straight off to bed afterwards. Still, she only improved slightly and it was very clear that _something_ was constantly stressing her.

That same something, was also eating away at Undyne. Tears? Mood swings? That wasn't like her at all. Alphys surmised it was due to her newfound insomnia. That eerie coincidence really bothered Frisk.

It also affected Papyrus- who was now taking his breaks and requested the weekends off from fatigue, Alphys too- she had mentioned experiencing night-terrors herself, and even Frisk was not spared from this horror! Sans seemed to be the only one unaffected, and now he wanted to see her in a secret place right after Undyne's breakdown?

Frisk kept dreaming about Flowey. Every night they would hear his blood-curdling laughter, the horrible whispers of murder and revenge, his gloating, his taunting, watch disturbing images of his face distorting and twisting like he had done before. Then they would hear a voice that would banish the terrible flower. But not a familiar voice. It sent shivers up Frisk's spine, the type of bone-tingling, mind-numbing, purely-instinctual type of fear that told your entire being to get up and **run.** Even though they knew they had never heard it before, it felt so familiar, so unbelievably close to home. Frisk almost felt… As if the voice was their own.

Though they never wanted to meet the owner of that voice, it hadn't really done anything to make them fear it so strongly. Not only would it vanquish the nightmarish Flowey, but it even gave her words of encouragement?

"You can fix this." "He is no more." "There's still a chance to set everything right." "Don't you want to get a better ending?" "Come with me partner, let's rebuild this world." Why did it frighten them so?

Alas, in the past week there hadn't been anymore nightmares, just the lingering stress. So perhaps it was just a bad relapse? Frisk would have to think about it later, they could make out Sans waiting in the dark cavern.

"frisk. good to see ya." He greeted, sounding very serious. Frisk wasn't sure if it really was 'good to see ya' based on his tone.

"needed a meeting place that wasn't too far from where i wanna go."

Frisk was disappointed to hear that they would not be returning to the alcove, a good laugh would lift their spirits. Then Sans did something strange.

He held out his hand and stood there, locking gaze with Frisk. Warily, they gave their hand to him, and he grasped it tightly, intertwining his boney fingers with theirs. Frisk was surprised at his gesture, it was not one of friendliness, nor was it mischievous or hostile. It was something completely foreign. Sans exhaled (which made them wonder if he really _needed_ to.) and tugged them along. He led them to the portion of the caves where inscriptions were carved into the walls that contained the underground's old recorded history.

"story never gets old, does it?" Sans said in regards to the cave's inscriptions. "but i didn't bring you over here to give you a boring history lesson. knowing me, i'd probably fall asleep halfway through."

Frisk wiggled their fingers in discomfort, a strange tingling sensation enveloping their body, along with a rush of heat to their cheeks. Still he did not release them, he only rubbed his boney fingertips against their in a way _so affectionate_ that Frisk wasn't so sure how to handle the gesture. They felt themselves getting even more flushed.

"figured you've been here before, you must've explored every inch of the underground by now." He glanced at Frisk. "what? you haven't? must be those pesky doors that won't open. i wouldn't worry too much about them if i were you. **only dirty hackers go in there.** "

Though those doors did bother Frisk, never had they gone out of their way to get them open. They wondered why the mentioning of them would cause Sans's tone to change so dramatically. They walked a little further, until they were surrounded by glowing spores and echo flowers swaying slightly from a soft draft.

"undyne really likes this spot. found her inspiration here. this is the place that used to whisper everyone's hopes and dreams."

Frisk frowned. He was talking about the echo flowers that recorded one such intimate conversation between two lovers about promising to see the sky. If a person explored enough across the room, they could even hear the wishes of countless other monsters'. Frisk felt a twinge of sadness, aware that most of the voices now belong to the deceased.

"i didn't have any hopes or dreams." Sans admitted as-a-matter-of-factly.

Frisk shot their face towards him, pained to hear such a thing.

"papyrus does enough of that for the both of us. he's got a lot of dreams. that's not so much of a bad thing you know. cuz even though his heart is soft, it's the biggest one around."

Frisk smiled in agreement.

"undyne can have a one-track mind most of the time, but i guess she's pretty brave. she doesn't compare to papyrus, but she does her best." Again, Frisk agreed. "even alphys got her wish, you know what i mean? and tori, she's sad, but you gave her that chance to be a mother and a teacher- so in a way, her wish came true as well. besides, with my awesome jokes, how could she stay glum for long?" He chuckled.

Frisk chuckled too, he was tooting his own horn again.

"and that robot-guy, the slick-talking, annoying, touchy box…" Sans started.

Frisk awaited his upcoming sentence.

"yeah him." Sans said completely done with the subject. Frisk tilted their head. Sans turned away to gaze at the floating spores. "what i'm saying is, everyone got their wish. but they're all still stressing about the surface. maybe i don't have a right to talk, because i didn't lose anything precious. but before you came along, the whole underground was bonkers about the surface, now after they been discouraged and disappointed, they're still nuts about the surface." He shook his skull. "it all seems pretty redundant to me."

Frisk concluded that Sans was extremely observant, though at the same time he greatly lacked empathy.

"not sure if it's my place to say it, but i already did. all i know is that it matters a whole lot to the gang- _especially you._ " Sans said pointedly. "and well… i've got a confession to make."

Frisk stared straight into his eye sockets.

"there is _one thing_ that i want."

Despite his skeletal features and all their ambiguity, Frisk could tell this was no ordinary conversation just by looking at him. Frisk felt as if whatever he said next would change the way they both saw each other forever. He released their hand. " from now on i want to be the only thing you worry about."

Frisk stood there, completely stunned. Senses extremely heightened. The _way_ Sans worded that sentence made their heart skip a beat.

"close your eyes." He ordered.

Frisk hesitated, feeling hot and nervous.

"if you know anything about me, is that it's probably a prank." He smiled.

And so Sans stood there with his signature troublemaker's grin that hid his inner thoughts so well. Frisk did nothing at first, feeling very unlike themselves, but at the same time there was a burning curiosity behind the true meaning of his words. So they mustered up enough nerve and decided to take the risk. They closed their eyes.

They waited for something to happen, but it doesn't seem like anything did. So when they opened their eyes, Sans was still there, the same expression on his face, and Frisk was certain he had taken them for a fool, had it not been for the shimmering in their peripheral vision. Frisk squinted and looked around to find themsleves in the crystal room. They don't know how he pulled this one off, even _with_ teleportation, but Frisk was very pleased to find themselves here again. They walked up to Sans, expecting a response.

His eyes flashed for a moment, and as if he just remembered something, he quickly reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone, clicked it off and returned it back to his pocket. "to prevent any distractions." He said squinting, his eye orbs shifting suspiciously.

Frisk approached him again, expecting an explanation. He shook his head. "no point in beating around the bush anymore." Sans said averting his gaze.

Seeing as that was the last they would get out of him, Frisk knelt down to listen to the glowing echo flowers. Sans eye orbs following their every movement.

" _can you kiss someone without lips?_ "

That wasn't the pun they expected to hear.

" _is the embrace warm without body heat?_ "

What does that even mean?

" _could you love a man that wasn't really a man at all?_ "

Frisk turned to Sans, who wasn't even blinking. Confused and suspicious, Frisk crouched to a small cluster of flowers at their feet and positioned themselves to listen.

" _make no_ _ **bones**_ _about it you're the one for me._ "

Realization struck.

" _i_ _ **ulna**_ _want to be with you._ "

Frisk could not believe what they were hearing. They bent down to their knees to get in earshot of the smallest flower, which whispered:

" _i want_ _ **tibia**_ _boyfriend._ "

Frisk abruptly stood up and swished around. There was Sans, inches away from their face, unreadable and unfaltering.

He looked all-too-proud of himself. "get it now?"

Without a moment's hesitation Frisk thrust themselves into Sans's arms and wrapped tightly around his torso. The widest grin Sans had ever seen on them, giggling as if they had just been tickled in the _right spot._ Sans returned the embrace, taking the reaction for his answer. His face was incredibly blue and he had shivers running up and down his spine, but holding Frisk like this gave him the strength to stand. It only got better, because Frisk was now showering him with kisses.

Unbelievably happy, too caught up in the onslaught of smooches, Sans was not prepared when Frisk stood on their tip-toes and tugged at his shirt, causing his head to dip forward. They planted a firm push of their lips right onto his mouth, their other hand cupping the back of his skull. Sans felt his knees give way and the next thing he knew he had to cling onto them for support as his eye sockets flung shut; utterly lost in the sensation.


	18. Chapter 18

Neither of them knew what came over them. Poor Frisk tried to keep Sans steady, but for a skeleton he sure was **heavy.** They clumsily stumbled to the ground, still caught in their passionate embrace. Frisk finally pulled away and the two of them were panting, Sans hovering over Frisk with a hand to his skull, looking rather dizzy. Frisk fell back and caught their breath, straddled between his legs.

All the two could hear was each other's heavy breathing in the dark, dimly lit cave. Sans felt his sense of balance returning and opened his eye sockets. He noticed his position over his new lover and chuckled. "hehehe… we're a couple of rascals, aren't we?"

Frisk turned their head away shyly, hoping their hair would hide the redness in their cheeks. Sans carefully shimmied off and helped Frisk up. "we should still have time."

Frisk shot him a puzzled glance.

"for our first date. _duh._ "

That caused an easy smile to stretch across Frisk's face. The couple linked arms and quick-traveled their way back to Snowdin. Sans peered around. "huh. guess it's as good as anyplace else." He shrugged. Frisk already knew.

Grillby's.

The two sat in their favorite hangout spot like they had done for years. To everyone else that saw Frisk and Sans walk in, it was just a another day. But to them, not even close. They found a nice booth far off in the corner where they wouldn't be disturbed. Only Grillby seemed to notice the ghost of a smile on Frisk's usually emotionless face, and the faintest hint of blue against Sans's ashen white skull. The man of fire averted his spectacles and returned to polishing his glass.

Sans ordered a big bowl of chips and salsa, some tacos, and a giant quesadilla on the side for them to split. The next thing they knew they had been sitting there for hours, joking, laughing and reminiscing about the years that have passed.

"remember when we broke the record for how many hotcats i could balance on your head?"

Frisk snorted, those sausages flew everywhere.

"or that day we were playing hide and seek and you found me in your wardrobe because i couldn't resist such a perfect chance to say that you ' _had a skeleton in your closet_ '."

For that very reason, Sans was the easiest one to find.

"how about the time i stuffed you in my jacket and we walked around with you acting as my head all day?"

Frisk was snickering at the memory. Papyrus was convinced that Frisk had a freak growth spurt, and advised on them losing a few pounds. Sans was _not_ happy. They could get away with so much more when Frisk was small.

"so frisk." Sans said, grabbing his partner's attention. "how about we wait to see how long it takes the others to catch on?"

That plan was far too simple, Frisk knew Sans had a trick up his sleeve.

"i mean, if we just up and tell 'em, it isn't really as fun ya'know? and knowing the guys…" He grinned cheekily. "if they caught on, they wouldn't admit it straight up. they'd probably jump to all sorts of funny conclusions and act awkward whenever they saw us. it'd be a real hoot."

Oh, so that was his plan. They were all in!

"i'll sweeten the deal. let's bet on who cracks first. loser treats winner on the next date." He winked.

Now they were _definitely_ in. Frisk outstretched their arm for a proper handshake.

"but tori doesn't count." Sans blurted, retracting his hand at the last minute.

Frisk tilted their head. Their mother? Why single her out? Then they slapped their forehead. _Of course!_ Toriel has probably been trying to set them up for ages now.

"you see my point." Sans admitted.

They shook hands on it. Frisk had their bets on Alphys to notice first, but Sans was positive none of them would get it until it became overwhelmingly obvious.

Aware that they had stayed suspiciously long, the couple got up, left a nice tip and departed. Sans more out of habit than chivalry, escorted Frisk home. A wave of shyness came over the two at the stone doors, rendering them unable to embrace each other. They only giggled at each other's faces before announcing their goodnights.

Once they were sure Sans was gone, Frisk leaned against the doors and clutched both of their cheeks, unbelieving of the events that occurred so brazenly today. Everything, just _everything_ was so surreal. The ongoing stress, the subtle hints, the moments of tension and uncertainty that led up to this point. Sans had always been difficult to figure out. He was so laid-back and apathetic about well… life. Frisk would never have suspected his feelings if he put real effort into hiding them. That was Sans however... He liked to mess with you, that's one thing, but he doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to what needs to be done.

Frisk's new boyfriend is not so much what was getting to them. It was their own actions. Frisk knew they were determined- they had heard that enough. But the sheer _audacity_ of that kiss even seemed out of character for them _._ Let alone they did not even hesitate after hearing his "punny" confession. Putting that aside as well, they rather _liked it._

They never thought their first kiss would be to someone who didn't even have lips! Frisk never knew they would wind up **dating a skeleton.** But then again, Frisk doesn't bother with those silly things. They never got hung up over boys… or girls for that matter. The entire concept of romance didn't apply to Frisk. What it meant to them, and what they may want out of it- only presented itself in that very instant. Nor did the drastic difference in species. He was a person. Frisk was a person. These two people were especially fond of each other. That's all that mattered.

So it both pleased and puzzled Frisk that someone who's experienced zero-interest in a relationship would enjoy the kiss so much.

At the very least, they now knew they could be attracted to beings outside of their species. Regarding that, Sans still hit close to home: He walked on two legs, stood upright, had fingers and toes, two eyes, a nose and a mouth- none of them in outlandish places. Yes, he lacked the obvious. Skin, hair, organs, etc… But if one possessed an open mind, then they related on a remarkably identical level. All of their friends did for that matter. Other than looks and magic, what _did_ set monsters apart from humans?

At the same time, Frisk could never see themselves with someone like… Temmie, for example. Not that being on four legs made Temmie any less of a person, but perhaps if Frisk had to describe their _type,_ it would lean on the anthropomorphic side.

Thinking about it helped make more sense out of things. This was all new-let's throw the inter-species relationship out the window for a moment-Frisk just found their first boyfriend. They have a lot more to make sense out of from now other than the fluttery feelings in their gut. Just how this was going to work... Frisk began thinking further. Oh yes, just _how_ **things** were going to _work_ was going to be very interesting indeed.


	19. Chapter 19

Sans took each step at time with great precision.

It happened. It finally happened. And when all was said and done, Frisk said yes! Actually, Frisk didn't "say" anything exactly, they never did... But their actions spoke louder than words!

All that time he spent fussing and worrying about what _could_ go wrong, or _may_ be the case, didn't come back to haunt him. Frisk was Frisk. He loved everything about them- down from their fleshy toes, all the way up to their fuzzy head. And what mattered most is that they returned those feelings. That fact alone was astounding. It was commonplace for monsters to mate and breed with other monsters outside of their sub-species. On a purely reproductive scale however, monsters were too genetically different to procreate with humans. His race ranged from humanoid creatures, to more animalistic beings, to downright _nightmare fuel._ It could have six eyes, nine legs, horns, fur, scales, fins, even just be a pile of goo- and it was still fair game! It really all just came down to personal taste.

So it was no wonder that it came naturally for him to develop an attraction to Frisk- truth be told they were remarkably _tame_ compared to his vast array of other dating options. What astounded him was not his own emotions, but theirs. For Frisk to be so open-minded and accepting really earned his respect. They saw it the way he saw it: you liked what you like, and you didn't what you don't.

Sans didn't realize he had been walking in circles this entire time and had dug a pretty deep trench for himself. He was shoulders-deep in the ground. " _aw well."_ The lazy skeleton figured. "... _i'm not picky."_ This place was as good as a place to sleep as his own bed, plus, he didn't really feel like walking the rest of the way home. He unceremoniously plopped on his behind (his pelvis?) and hung his head.

Of course, there was far too much on his mind for him to get any sleep.

He was Frisk's boyfriend now. And they were his... Boyfriend? Girlfriend? " _suppose i'll find out sooner or later."_ The thoughts of when that moment would arrive and _through what means_ kept him giggling excitedly.

Sans had no prior interest in dating. Not only was it an abhorrently grotesque amount of work, but it mostly ended up as a waste of time. He spared himself the headache. _That feeling_ he used to misinterpret, the weird sensations throughout his body, the foreign thoughts racing in his mind, those were all recent. Sans wasn't oblivious to the concept of romance, he knew how it worked and what to expect. But he never felt himself wanting it before.

He probably wasn't that picky in actuality, just unmotivated. Life was bleak for Sans before he met Frisk. The only thing he had to live for was his brother. Papyrus kept him going, kept him from giving up on living. Other than that, he occupied himself with earthly pleasures. Food, drink, pranks and puns... If they only knew the ugly truth, who could blame him? Was it not all futile?

Why waste his time working, breaking his back, causing himself stress when it wouldn't amount to anything in the end? Why meet a lot of different people and put the effort into lasting friendships when they would all never remember each other at the sudden whim of a RESET? Why put his heart through the torture of falling in love? Everyone else had no inkling of the idea that their lives were essentially meaningless. Why do anything at all? Why _be_ anything at all?

His brother kept him from going over the edge of oblivion, of absolute **_collapse._** Papyrus couldn't give a damn about troubles beyond his power. He saw life worth living to its fullest, no matter how short, no matter how fleeting. He sought to dream BIG, to think positive, and to never, ever, ever give up! His brother spread his infectious optimism wherever he went, and had earned the admiration of many for his honesty and kind-heartedness. Let's face it- Papyrus really knew how to cheer up a guy.

Before he met Frisk, Sans devoted himself to that cause. To protect his brother, to help him and cheer him on. Sans knew that it was not he, but his brother that was the bravest of the two. Papyrus does what he thinks is right, and he doesn't care if it values to anything, if it matters to anyone, or even if he gets proper thanks… He just wants to be happy and make people happy in return. That dedication and sheer unwillingness to falter is something Sans would never be capable of. That is why he holds Papyrus in such high regard. If the end of the world ever came, Papyrus would go down smiling- more grateful for the time he _did_ have on this earth, rather than regretful that it didn't last long enough.

Now Sans was changing. It wasn't him and his brother against the world anymore. He had Toriel, Undyne, Alphys, Frisk, even Mettaton… The robot was _fresh,_ too fresh with Paps, but he wouldn't wish him any lasting harm.

Change was dangerous. He was leaving himself open to hope again.

But he wanted to be happy.

Had he not already accepted that risk when he confessed his feelings to Frisk? Toriel was right. Sans _loved Frisk._ He had tried his very hardest to ignore it, to deny it, to get over it! But he could not. Just as he could not help loving his brother, he could not help loving Frisk. Damn it all, Toriel was right again. His love couldn't be compared to a brotherly affection.

Sans wasn't even aware that he had a hole in heart that needed filling. He accepted the sad, unfairness of his life and found ways to cope. But now Frisk was doing things to him that made him almost feel… As if it was _worth trying again._

He had spent the majority of his life so numb, so cold and unfeeling and devoid of motivation that his mind couldn't grasp the possibility of ever feeling complete. But that's exactly what Frisk did; what they were doing now. They completed him. And when Sans broke it down, no one else ever could.

They were so scarily alike, that if Sans believed in fate, then this was one those things that was "surely meant to be." Frisk too, had nothing. He met them at a really young age, but even with their whole lives ahead of them- Sans had all of eternity to mope. What did they have to look forward to back when they lived on the surface? Growing up, becoming an "adult", working, paying, trying to "find a path in life"? Just to grow old and die. Humans were so close-minded when it came to their existence. To be fair, monsters built their societies identically but the biggest difference is that they will always have time on their side.

Sans did not like that idea. Another citizen, another ant for the colony, bee for the hive. Frisk lived life incredibly _bored. Not_ like Sans where they saw the concept behind life as futile, but Frisk lived in "the now", in the present. They took life one day at a time and focused their efforts on making the day enjoyable, rather than question the meaning behind the day itself. That's what made them pair so well. Sans thought too much, and Frisk thought too little.

Sans could feel himself nodding off now, ease flowing into his mind.

Who else could be a better partner for him? The one, other person who could bring light back into his life again, also possessed the ability that he so dreaded. Maybe, with Frisk around… He wouldn't have to worry about it all being undone. They had the power he lacked. The power to make a difference.

After all, the SAVE POINTS were gone, and so was the stupid flower. Even if an outside influence tried to ruin everything, Frisk was on _their side,_ and they could make things right again. Out of them all, only Frisk had the capability to change their fate. That very same person was his lover. This is it. He didn't have to live like this anymore. Frisk would never betray them. Starting this day forward, Sans had a life worth living: life officially begins now.

And so, for perhaps the first time in his life... Sans did not fall into a barren, black slumber- but instead, one filled with pleasant dreams.


	20. Chapter 20

"...and that is where babies come from." Toriel concluded her immensely unwanted lesson in a voice as sweet as honey. She had been especially chipper of late, and now seemingly out of the blue she felt inspired to give Frisk "the talk". Frisk only grimaced at the many horrifying images now laden in their mind.

"Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for inter-species relationships. Crossbreeding is very common among monsters, but the genetic composition between monsters and humans are just too vast to result in conception." She nervously toyed with her floppy ears. "Sex for purely pleasurable purposes however, is indeed possible. As it used to be practiced in the past quite often." Her face immediately became flushed.

She was ensuring her child that she very much knew how old they were, and what to expect in the future. But it was also Toriel's way of putting Frisk down gently: As long as they were stuck behind the barrier, they would have to understand their only dating options were monsters- and should they ever pursue that thought, then raising their own children someday was not going to happen.

"Of course, love is never impossible. Even in the strangest of places. In the old days, though they were rare, the two races even married." She brightened up.

Frisk blinked, aware of the not-so-subtle hints their mother was giving them. She was trying to tell them that this was not the first time humans and monsters loved each other. Just as much as she was making it very clear that it would still be considered _odd._

"Adoption is always an option." She winked.

Frisk rolled their eyes. Being adopted themselves, they knew Toriel wasn't one to state the obvious. She was merely reminding them that she wanted to be grandmother and that she would prefer it happened sooner rather than later.

One awkward lunch passed and Frisk exited the ruins red in the face and ears. They rubbed their temples, fighting back the growing headache. That was _so_ embarrassing.

They saw why Sans hadn't even bothered to include her in the bet. Toriel already knew. Though _how_ she had found out was more than a mystery... It had been three weeks since they started dating, and they hadn't done anything out of the ordinary to give her any clue. Frisk only saw him maybe a couple of times over that period, most of their talking was done on the phone at that.

Still, Toriel made it apparent that she knew what was going on between them. She was always asking how Sans was doing, if he was free to come over for "family dinner", and every time Frisk even set foot out of their bedroom the first thing Toriel would ask is if they were going to visit him. The very mentioning of his name caused her to giggle. And she found reasons to talk about him every chance she got: "Look what I bought today, a blue sweater! Do you think Sans would like it? Blue is his favorite color you know. It isn't exactly his style but perhaps he'll wear it. Better yet, maybe you should have it. Then the two of you would match." She suggested happily. "Oh, I have just remembered a splendid joke Sans once told me. *Ahem!* _What does a skeleton tile his roof with?..._ **_Shin-gles!_** Hee hee hee. Oh, that boy is too funny!" Toriel chortled. "Hmm... Oh, yes sweetie? What? Why, I was just thinking about Papyrus. Sans is quite protective of him, the sweetheart. I bet he'll make a good father someday."

Frisk groaned. Now she had sat them down and just given them that horrible lecture. Well-intended as it was, Frisk didn't appreciate it one bit. Luckily, they had somewhere to be today. Sans had been too occupied to make time for them lately, what he was up to Frisk had no idea. Today he was taking a breather, and he had sent them a text message earlier to meet them at Alphys's lab. He told them to hurry, it looked like Mettaton and Papyrus were having an argument.

Like Frisk had expected, there was Sans keeping his distance but not out of earshot. He turned around before Frisk had to announce their arrival. "hey, you." Sans greeted affectionately. Frisk's smile went all goofy, then they coughed and nodded a hello.

"get a load of this." Sans handed them a crumpled newspaper which looked like it had been crushed, trampled and opened up again. Frisk squinted through the wrinkles to read the front page:

" **Underground's most eligible bachelor officially off the market?** " Frisk immediately panicked. How did everyone find out?! Their heart started to slow down once they read further... "The Underground's hottest and only superstar has been smitten by a local skeleton. Proclamations of love were heard being serenaded in the celebrity's very own hotel lobby. Witness accounts say that the aloof skeleton fled the romantic scene shouting "PREPOSTEROUS! NYEHEHEH!" the idol quickly following after them. Thousands of groupies and fanboys announce themselves heartbroken."

Frisk sighed in relief.

"hehe. you flatter me, frisky. 'most eligible bachelor'?" Sans teased.

Frisk blushed in realization.

"the others are here." He stated. Frisk turned their head to watch Undyne and Alphys approach them.

"Has anyone started punching each other yet?" Undyne shouted.

Sans shook his head.

"Good, cause the only one that'll be knocking any heads is me!" She roared.

"Why are they fighting?" Alphys worried.

Mettaton's pleas drew all of their attentions. "How could you do this to me? After all we've been through?! Tell me why!"

"T-THE GREAT AND CONFUSED PAPYRUS HAS NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT." He retorted, an embarrassed blush on his cheekbones.

"Yes you do! You've been toying with my heart! There's someone else isn't there?" Mettaton shouted.

"N-NO! PAPYRUS IS AN HONEST TO GOODNESS SKELETON."

"So you're dumping me now. Is that it?" Mettaton cried out in despair.

"DUMPING YOU?" Papyrus asked, dumbfounded.

"Of course! You don't want me anymore. No matter what I do, you keep pushing me away. The nerve of it all!" Mettaton pouted.

"YOU MUST BE MISTAKEN. IF THE GREAT PAPYRUS WERE EVER BLESSED WITH THE CHANCE TO DATE SUCH A TALENTED AND ATTRACTIVE CELEBRITY SUCH AS YOURSELF HE WOULD DOTE OVER THEM NIGHT AND DAY!" He admitted with a laugh.

 _"What?!"_ The whole group rang in sync with Mettaton at his statement.

"T-then what were we doing this whole time?!" Mettaton couldn't believe.

"WHY, SURELY YOU WERE HUMORING YOU'RE NUMBER ONE FAN PAPYRUS. AFTER ALL, YOU'RE HIS FAVORITE SEXY RECTANGLE!" The tall skeleton beamed.

Mettaton stood there, completely awestruck. Then he smiled, if not a bit shakily. "N-no, darling. I was not."

"HMM? THEN WHY WERE YOU BEING SO FLIRTATIOUS AND FUNNY AND SUPPORTIVE AND UNDERSTANDING AND DEVOTING?"

Mettaton gave Papyrus a _look._

"..." Papyrus suddenly looked horrified. "NYEH?!"

Mettaton finally smiled, taking a step closer to extend his robot arms around Papyrus's neck.

"Y-YOU MEAN. ME? AND YOU? TOGETHER? THE DATES?! THE POEMS?! THE WHISPERS OF SWEET NOTHINGS INTO PAPYRUS'S NON-EXISTENT EARS?! THE POT OF SPAGHETTI SAUCE?!"

" _Yes_ , you silly skeleton." Mettaton said closing the distance between them.

"OH MY GOD!" Papyrus shrieked. Then he let out a shrill "SQUEEEE!" and grabbed Mettaton by the shoulders. Tears of joy sprinkling out of his eye sockets and looking as if he was _finally_ about to do something PG-13.

His happiness suddenly switched to pure terror. "OH NO! I HAVE MISSED SO MANY ANNIVERSARIES! I NEED TO MAKE IT UP TO YOU! I MUST PURCHASE A MOUNTAIN OF GIFTS! AND A ROMANTIC DINNER! I OWE YOU A ROMANTIC DINNER!" The skeleton wasted no time hoisting the robot over his shoulder and sprinting back to Snowdin to properly apologize to his boyfriend. They were out of sight in mere seconds.

The group stood there- unsure of what to make of the scene that unfolded before them.

"W-well... _That_ solved itself didn't it?" Alphys nervously chuckled.

Undyne snorted. "Leave it to Papyrus to not notice he had a boyfriend for three years." The two women locked hands and made their way back to the watery caves.

Frisk turned to Sans, who kept staring at the patch of ground where his brother had been standing before he hurried off. Some unsettling seconds passed, and Frisk poked him on the shoulder. The short skeleton shrugged and walked along tugging Frisk with him. They couldn't help but notice his grin was creepy and his eye sockets had gone completely black. Frisk shook their head, knowing exactly where Sans was taking them next.

Back at the skelebros's house, Frisk was rolling their eyes as Sans followed Papyrus's every move with his own. They kept tugging at their boyfriend's sleeve, pulling the hood over his face, making audible sighs and generally tried to get him out of the house so Papyrus and Mettaton could have some privacy. Sans persisted sitting on the couch, eyeing the kitchen with evil as the familiar smell of burnt pasta filled the living room.

"Why don't you let me cook it hunny-bones?" Mettaton purred.

"THAT SHALL SIMPLY NOT DO. THE GREAT AND OBLIVIOUS PAPYRUS MUST MAKE IT UP TO HIS NEW-YET-NOT-SO-NEW BOYFRIEND. TO THINK I HAVE BEEN DATING MY IDOL THIS WHOLE TIME AND NOT HAVE NOTICED HIS AFFECTIONS! FOR SHAME! WHY, I AM GRATEFUL YOU DID NOT DUMP ME ON THE SPOT." Papyrus patted Mettaton on the head cutely.

"Well, if you really want to make it up to me then why don't we do it like on our cooking show?" The fabulous robot suggested.

" _OUR_ SHOW?" Papyrus dropped his ladel.

Mettaton laid himself on the counter, making sure to show off the shapely arches of his body and accentuate his hips especially. " **Oh yes~** " He said with a lick of his lips.

Papyrus gulped.

Back in the living room, Sans was so fuming that Frisk was sure they could fry an egg on top of his skull. He abruptly stood up. Frisk however, was quick to yank him down. Earning an angry glare from the skeleton. Unfazed, Frisk wagged their finger at him.

"don't tell me you expect me to just sit back and do nothing." He seethed.

That was exactly what Frisk expected him to do.

He stood up again, only to be grabbed by Frisk. He shook them off and proceeded to head to the kitchen, but Frisk leaped and wrapped themselves around his ankles. To their surprise, Sans was strong enough to drag them along with him, even if that was rather slowly. Frisk struggled to hold him back, earning a grunt from Sans. It was a vicious game of tug of war to keep him from spoiling the flirting in the kitchen which he had no business intruding on.

Frisk finally seemed to be getting the upper hand until the both of them froze when they heard a loud " **Ohhh yes! More! _More!_** " followed by clanking and thumping.

Frisk yelped in both shocked embarrassment at the explicit noises coming from the kitchen and at being lifted, then tossed onto the couch by Sans's bare hands. "nu-uh. no way. **the bone-zone is closed.** " He gritted through his teeth as he stormed over there. Frisk clumsily raced after him. When they entered the kitchen, they did not find the scene the dirty-minded couple expected.

Papyrus was furiously stirring the sauce, the metal ladel being spun so fast that it clinked against the pot and was making quite the mess. Mettaton was high-jump kicking and landing hard on his high, pink heels, doing a spectacular can-can to cheer Papyrus on.

"There you go darling, just like that!" He cheered. "The faster the better. I want that sauce stirred so hard that it becomes whipped!"

"THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL FEED YOU A SAUCE YOU'LL NEVER FORGET."

Sans smiled sheepishly at the glare he was getting from Frisk, who had their arms folded and was tapping their foot impatiently.

"BROTHER? IS SOMETHING THE MATTER?" Papyrus suddenly noticed.

"huh? uhh. no way bro, just came to check up on ya." Sans answered nervously, more embarrassed about what Frisk must think of him for jumping to conclusions like that.

"SANS. YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO LIE TO ME." Papyrus scolded. Mettaton giggled girlishly, probably aware of what his actions must have sounded like.

"w-what do ya mean, bro?" Sans feigned innocence, worried he might have offended his brother in the worst of ways.

"IF YOU'RE SO HUNGRY, WHY DON'T YOU GO TO GRILLBY'S AND PUT IT ON MY TAB? THIS SPAGHETTI IS RESERVED FOR OUR ROMANTIC DINNER ONLY. I KNOW YOU CANNOT RESIST MY DELICIOUS HOME-COOKING, BUT I'M AFRAID YOU'LL HAVE TO MAKE DO FOR ONE NIGHT."

"..." But then Sans chuckled. "caught me red-handed. sorry bro."

"OF COURSE I DID, YOU SILLY SANS. NOW OFF YOU GO." Papyrus shooed.

"uh, right. c'mon frisk." Frisk didn't have a choice in the matter, they were already being pulled on the arm out of the house. Once the door was closed, Frisk gave their boyfriend a sly grin.

"...hehe." He chuckled dryly. "hehehehehehehehehehehehe."

Frisk quickly became concerned.

"paps is growin up. guess i wasn't ready for that." Sans admitted, his expression dropping.

Frisk looked at him for a long while, Sans had shut his eye sockets and stood there, not moving. They came close and hugged him. Sans appreciated the gesture. "thanks. i'm alright now." He informed after about a minute of silent hugging. He linked arms with them and made his way in the direction of Grillby's. "let's take papyrus up on his offer." But Frisk remained standing there, causing the skeleton to jerk back. "what gives?" He asked, confused. Frisk shook their head. It was about time they finally took Sans over for that "family dinner."


	21. Chapter 21

Toriel looked happier than she had been in ages. Her delicious dinner had not been touched, for the three were far too busy tossing puns at each other.

"I wasn't originally planning on getting brain surgery, but then _I changed my mind._ "

The entire table bursts into laughter. Sans picks up on Toriel's joke.

"speaking of surgery- did you hear about the guy who had his entire left side cut off? he's _all right now._ "

Frisk nudges him with their elbow, a raised eyebrow and impressed smile sent his way.

"what, is it really that surprising? i don't only do skeleton jokes ya know." He winks.

At last Toriel slices the pot pie and serves everyone.

It didn't need to be announced, she already knew as soon as she saw the two of them enter hand in hand. Toriel wasted no time in congratulating them, letting out sighs of relief that Frisk would be taken care of and that she always hoped the Sans would find himself a level-headed partner to keep him in check. She really had no idea that Frisk could be just as bad as he was when they felt like it, but the couple figured she'd catch on to that too. Sans piped up from the casual dinner chatter, he had a request to make.

"hey tori, can you do me a favor?" He said grinning.

"Hmm, whatever you need dear." She said delicately cutting her pie into smaller pieces.

"so, frisk here and i thought of this really cool prank."

Toriel pouted, her eyes forming a squint, she pointed her fork accusingly at him. "Now Sans, you know I do love your jokes, but your troublesome pranks are another story."

"no worries this time. honest. it's completely harmless. in fact, we were wonderin if you'd partake."

She raised an eyebrow and nothing more.

"see, frisk and i made this bet to see who would figure us out first. now before you stop me, we already knew you'd be too sharp. so that only leaves the rest of the guys... i say no one's gonna catch on until we flat-out tell 'em. frisk has got their bet on alphys though. loser treats the winner on a date. pretty clever right? totally innocent. all we ask is that you play along and not spread this around. whaddaya say?" He asks smoothly.

Toriel rubs her chin, a sly smirk over her lips. "Oh, I'd say that would be simple enough. However, it is a bit weak... If you ask me."

Sans and Frisk exchanged a confused glance at each other.

"i don't follow." Sans admitted, looking a little perturbed.

"Quite frankly, I expected more from you Sans. _You are_ after all, 'The Jaunty Jester', 'The Duke of Dupes', 'The Pinnacle of Perfectly Pointless Puns'..." Toriel teased.

It would appear that she was challenging his honor.

"Perhaps this romance has made you soft. Or could it be, maybe a weak spot, perhaps? It's obvious to me that you are taking the easy way out. We're not being _shy_ here are we?" Toriel said fluttering her eyelashes.

Frisk's mouth merely fell open, incredulous to the words coming out of her mouth. Sans on the other hand, looked a little insulted.

Sans scoffed. "me? soft. i'm as hard as solid **bone.** "

"Well then you wouldn't mind raising the stakes a little, would you?" She giggled.

"what are you up to?" He said, taking the bait.

"The prank is good, don't get me wrong. But it's incredibly biased in your favor. Naturally, not a single soul would find out on their own should you two continue to act the way you are. Where is the risk you both aren't going to even hint that you might be together? I say you should dote on one another. _Tease_ them if you will. Nose nuzzling, sweet-talking, oh, come now, I'm sure you can think of something. You can even use your puns." Toriel stated.

Sans saw Frisk turn bright red and lift their sweater collar to cover their face. He too, could feel himself turning blue. But backing out now would not impress Toriel. She wasn't challenging _them_ , she was challenging _him._

He shrugged it off as if it didn't bother him. "good idea tori. we'll do it."

Frisk made a small disbelieving sound and smacked him on the back of his skull. Toriel only clapped giddily.

"Heeheehee! I cannot wait to see how this turns out!"

The rest of the dinner went on without a hitch. Frisk gave their boyfriend an awkward hug to which Toriel smiled sweetly. They headed to bed, relieved that the embarrassment had passed. A few minutes of lying under the covers, and just as they were about to fall into restful sleep, they heard a voice.

 **"It's not going to last forever."**

Frisk opened their eyes. _That voice!_

 **"I'm losing you. I can feel it. You must stay determined!"**

Determined? Determined for what?

 **"This is all an illusion, a farce, a happy lie. I only want to help you."**

Did they fall asleep faster than they thought? Because Frisk could swear this voice only talked to them in their dreams.

The voice chuckled. **"Heheh. No, you're not dreaming. You are pretty drowsy though. That means I can talk to you."**

Frisk felt themselves heading into a start; about to jump up from their bed.

 **"Don't do that! You were just falling asleep, you'll wake yourself up that way! I only want to talk..."** The voice pleaded.

Whoever this was could read minds, and that bothered Frisk. Still, they didn't seem hostile. Perhaps it was a monster?

 **"Who me? Not even close. But I am close to you, Frisk. In fact, I'm part of you. A part of you that you haven't embraced yet."**

A part? Of themselves? Was this a trick? Were they going mad? Why is this happening now, if they were truly one and the same?

 **"That's because we're not one and the same. But we _are_ equals. Partners. And I've been waiting a long time to speak with you Frisk. You're very special."**

Special? How? What did they want? Who is this?!

 **"Don't be afraid. I can sense that you know. I'll explain everything, hear me out. You and I have been together for a long time, but not always. No, I met you when you fell into the underground..."**

 _That_ long? Frisk wanted to know why.

 **"It's because you and I are kindred spirits. I don't have a body of my own Frisk, so I clung to you. I've been watching, waiting. I've seen all that you've done, heard all that you've thought, felt everything you have felt. I must say I'm impressed."**

So this was some kind of ghost?

 **"In a way you could say that. You see, Frisk. I need you. In fact, I don't just need you, everyone does! Maybe even the whole world."**

Now the voice had Frisk's attention. If the underground needed help once more, then it makes sense out of all other people, a wandering spirit would seek their help.

 **"What you've done so far was great. You saved everyone, you broke the barrier, you freed the monsters."**

Frisk felt a lump of guilt well up in their throat. That was only half-right.

 **"But then all of that bad stuff happened. I know you haven't forgotten. But I'm not blaming you. It wasn't _your_ fault Frisk. It was those wretched humans!"**

There exuded a certain animosity in the voice now.

 **"You tried your best. You made all the right choices. But they still took everything away from you. Even your own parents didn't trust you!"**

Frisk wanted no more of this. They didn't need to be reminded about a past they couldn't change.

 **"But I _can_ help you change it."**

What?

 **"I was there Frisk. I've been right by your side all along. I want to help you get a better ending. And you are running out of time. Only now will you be strong enough to act!"**

That's impossible. There were no SAVE POINTS. Frisk couldn't even access the MENU SCREEN. And that hadn't changed in the past nine years either. So why could it be done _now?_

 **"Because you've changed Frisk."**

Frisk was curious.

 **"I'm a spirit. I'm weak. I can only talk to you when you're vulnerable. Recently, I've been able to contact you through your dreams. This is a good thing! Now I can finally offer you my services. Your heart has been faltering Frisk. The guilt and regret have been tearing at you. It's allowed me in, and I will not go away until you resolve these feelings... But I know the only way to do that is to fix what happened in the past. You think it's impossible, but it isn't! Only if you do it alone. But _together_ we can go back in time once more."**

 _How?!_

 **"The SAVE POINTS are gone Frisk. But have you ever wondered what they are? I'm sure you found it funny that you could never travel back and forth through time when you lived above ground. SAVE POINTS are magical. That's why you only encountered them here. When you fought Flowey, when you fought Asriel, he exhausted every last ounce of his power trying to destroy you. He doesn't know how they disappeared, but he blames himself for this. But just because they are gone, doesn't mean you can't get yourself a better ending."**

What other way is there?

 **"It's called a 'TRUE RESET'. You've never RESETTED before Frisk. Have you ever thought about it?"**

Of course they have! But for some reason they couldn't access the MENU SCREEN! And that actually had nothing to do with SAVE POINTS. _Frisk had tried that already!_

 **"I have a small power in me. Just like yours. I can use determination too. But like I said before, I'm not strong enough. However, if you agree to go through with my plan, then I will use the power I have left to give you access to the MENU SCREEN."**

Frisk's heart fluttered in their chest.

 **" _BUT._ I cannot bring the SAVE POINTS back. I'm afraid that is beyond me. I do not have enough determination. So the only way you can change the timeline is by starting it over altogether. And Frisk... Without SAVE POINTS, you're only going to get one shot. You must not die!"**

But wait, if they start the whole timeline over- wouldn't they be before the SAVE POINTS got destroyed at all?

 **"Frisk, that's stupid! SAVE POINTS exist outside of the timeline! They are unaffected by time travel, you know that! It took the power of a _God_ to take them away!"**

Frisk understood. But there was something they wanted to know more than anything else... _Who and why_ are they helping them?

 **"Because of LOVE Frisk."**

Love?

 **"You know what love is. You have lots of love. And I want it too. I want a better ending just as much as you do. I want to help, and I am the only one that _can_ help you. Don't you want to save Asgore? All of the monsters that died? Wouldn't you like for the whole kingdom not to be trapped underground again? _We can do that Frisk._ "**

Yes, Frisk wanted that more than anything. For things to go right this time... But wait. If they did a TRUE RESET, then their friends... Toriel... _Sans_... None of it would have happened. And things were just starting to...

 **"I know you're fond of this timeline Frisk. But you'll see them again! We'll set it right. Don't let your heart become any more feeble. You're doing this for their sake aren't you? Think about the new timeline, what it could be."**

That was true... If it was all going to happen again anyway, they had almost nothing to lose and everything to gain.

 **"My offer stands. If you're going to do this with me then we're going to need Flowey."**

Flowey? He's alive?!

 **"Yes, I know where he is. We'll need my brother's help."**

His brother?! Then, could this be?-

 **" Oh yes, allow me to introduce myself... My name is Chara. :) "**


	22. Chapter 22

Frisk dragged their feet through the snow. They were lost in thought and feeling emotionally numb. The weight of Chara's words from last night burdened them greatly, so much that Frisk thought of nothing else since then. The possibilities... The risk... The consequences...

It had all happened so conveniently, and also ironically. Ironic that just as Frisk was beginning to let go of the past, it would present itself so suddenly and readily available. Ironic that just as things were starting to go right in a timeline that had gone so wrong, so, _so,_ horribly wrong... After Frisk had exhausted all other options, a new solution was begging to be explored.

Could they really do this?

One shot. Frisk would have **one shot** to set things straight again. Otherwise that's it, GAME OVER. Not only could they screw things up monumentally, but it would be permanent.

Frisk shivered, not from the icy wind, but from the memories of dying over and over in their previous run. How could they perform in essence: _a perfect play-through?_

Frisk would give their life if it meant sparing everybody else. No question about it. But their prosperity depended on Frisk's **not** dying. Not only that, but Frisk wanted this future. What they had with Toriel, with their friends, with Sans. What if this current timeline only happens _because_ of the momentous failure? That would mean they'd have to give it up. No. they didn't want to. Even though it hurt, even though it was hard to live this way, they had all pushed through, survived, and found happiness.

What did Chara have in him that guaranteed things wouldn't wind up the same way?

But Frisk thought about their friends. What if they ever found out that they had the opportunity to fix things and chose _not to_ because they were just comfortable being here? They might not ever find out, they wouldn't remember it anyway. Frisk knew they'd do it without hesitation. Except maybe Sans... Frisk couldn't live with that guilt either.

Goodness this was aggravating. If the reward didn't cost so much risk they would've done it by now! There wasn't room for error this time. Not only was the crippling fear of death looming over them, but the very-real possibility that they could ruin everyone's lives with one wrong action.

Frisk had been standing in front of the door too long, resting their head on the wood as the wind blew snow over them.

Well, whatever they were going to do, they weren't going to do it without telling Sans first. They lifted their head from the door and put up their fist to knock-

"if you like the front door this much, wait until you see the _inside._ "

Frisk blinked a few times, frozen in place. Right on cue this skeleton was, as always.

Sans stood there, waiting awkwardly for Frisk to snap themselves out of it and finally enter the home. Tonight was game night. Everyone was going to play Twister, Monopoly, and Connect-Four and many other human games Frisk had brought to their attention, while eating junk food and keeping score of who would be crowned "Grand-Daddy of Games" until next week.

They walked in on a staring contest that had been going on long before Frisk arrived between Undyne and Papyrus. Apparently this was Undyne's fifty-eighth rematch, she having not trumped Papyrus even once. Her eyes (one was in her eye patch of course.) were terribly bloodshot, thin streaks of tears running down both cheeks, her good eye had developed an unsettling twitch. Maybe she had it in her head that holding her breath would keep her from blinking, because her cheeks were puffed with captured air and her face was beginning to turn a deep shade of purple. Papyrus, on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine- if not a little guilty.

"ARE YOU SURE YOU DO NOT WISH TO STOP? THAT CANNOT BE GOOD FOR YOUR EYES... OR YOUR LUNGS."

Undyne only shook her head, straining to keep her breath in.

"Pl-please Undyne, stop! You're not going to win! Papyrus doesn't even _have_ eyes!" Alphys fretted.

In slides Mettaton, with a glittery bow-tie and microphone. Cameras seem to appear out of nowhere, along with the loud applause of a studio audience. "Would you look at that folks? It looks like our friendly-neighborhood-skeleton has got the feminine-fish-warrior in a deadlock! Papyrus has the gotten the upper hand on the scoreboard by a landslide! _But_ , could it be that the Underground's favorite heroine is making a comeback? Why, just look at that concentration!"

By now Undyne's face is the ugly color of a deep bruise, her eyes are rolling back.

"Ahh! S-someone do something!" Alphys squeals. She begins frantically searching through her purse. "Eye drops! Where are those eye drops?"

Sans is only pumping his fist and hooting. "go paps, go! never give up, never surrender!"

"I-I COULD BLINK IF YOU WANT ME TO. I DO NOT LIKE THE LOOKS OF THIS." Papyrus offers.

Undyne's entire body begins to tremble. "Mmmmmmphh!"

"nah. don't do that paps, this is funny!"

"SANS! YOU ARE BEING INSENSITIVE, UNLIKE THE GREAT AND SYMPATHETIC PAPYRUS."

"ya hear that, fish stick? you have his pity!" Sans instigates.

Undyne's pupils have already rolled to the back of her head, the yellow in her eyeballs have gone full red, she holds back a violent scream. "MMMMMMMNNNNFFF!"

"Lookie-here folks, do I spy an oncoming forfeit?" Mettaton narrates.

Undyne blinks incredulously. "Forfeit?! I NEVER FORFEIT!"

Mettaton's recorded audience gasps, everything goes dark, then the bright, sudden spotlight singles her out. She realizes what she has just done.

 **"NNNGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

"yeah, you never forfeit but that doesn't mean you never lose!" Sans gloats, waving his hands in the air like he just doesn't care.

Alphys breathes a sigh of relief. "At least it's over."

Papyrus does too. "WELL, THAT WAS ENTIRELY EXPECTED."

" **I don't believe iiiiiiiiiiit!"** She screeches.

"you better believe that my bro's gonna be grand daddy tonight!" Sans gleams with pride.

After getting swept 40-1 in checkers against Alphys, tied with Undyne after maybe a dozen rounds of extreme tic-tac-toe (the  
 _extreme_ part is that you have to make your move faster than the "ticking" of the timer, while sitting on a bunch of "tacs", and your plays are made by writing on the piece of paper with a pencil in between your"toes.") and dominating Papyrus in hang man, the group took a quick break to get snacks. So the last game of the night was Frisk's best: charades.

Sans leaned in to whisper. "you do the moving and i'll do the talking. nothing new eh?"

Frisk was feeling more than confident until he sat down with a playful wink.

Everyone else had gathered on the floor, ready to shout whatever they guessed Frisk was imitating. Sans sat to the side, deviance clear on his features. With a gulp, Frisk began to wave their arms around and bend, hoping to look like a blade of grass blowing in the breeze.

"You're a fish! An eel! A lobster!"

"A proud, majestic flag!"

"NO, SURELY YOU MUST BE A GRACEFUL STRAND OF SPAGHETTI, ELEGANTLY FLOWING IN THE SUMMER'S GALE."

"U-uh, umm. Waves? Wind chimes? An electrical current?"

Frisk raised their eyebrows, Papyrus wasn't actually that far off. Then Sans spoke...

"a breath of fresh air."

Frisk felt their temperature rising, thankfully no one else noticed his blatant flirting. They tried something else, now crouching down low with their arms hovering over their head. Perhaps this would look more obviously like a plant?

"A flying fish! A coral reef! Sea cucumber!"

"Hmm. Uhh. A box? A rock? Maybe a barrel?"

"Why, you're a television!"

"OR PERHAPS YOU ARE A CLEVER TRAP?"

"the roots that keep me grounded."

Frisk shot Sans a look that clearly stated "what are you doing?!" now getting even more embarrassed. Okay, a tree, Frisk would be a tree. All they had to do was stand tall and move their branches a little against the wind.

"Octopus!"

"O-Oh, I think I know! You're that mid boss in level twenty-one of the relic dungeon in Kissy Cutie Mew Mew Adventures that you can only unlock after beating expert mode!

"ONE TALL, SUAVE, HANDSOME SKELETON."

 _"Yes you are."_

Everybody stopped for that.

"the beginnings of a beautiful relationship."

Everybody stopped for **_that._**

Frisk felt the back of their neck beginning to sweat, he was going to give them away!

"Ugh. Stop being _creepy_ Sans. No wonder Frisk can't concentrate." Undyne glowered at him.

Not wanting the group to dwell, Frisk stomped their foot loudly to grab their attention and immediately began hopping and flapping their arms about wildly. They're a bird now! A bird! No one could mistake a bird!

"Helicopter!"

"Dolphin!"

"It's a bomb! _I'm_ the bomb!"

"THAT ONE INCIDENT THAT WE SHALL ALL NOT REPEAT WHEN THE GREAT PAPYRUS MISTAKENLY THOUGHT HIS CAPE WOULD GIVE HIM THE ABILITY TO FLY."

"you're the wind beneath my wings."

...

"YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY WINGS BROTHER." Papyrus said in a questioning tone.

"Jeez Sans... You sure are... _Poetic_ today." Alphys smiled.

"No he isn't, he's annoying!" Undyne said, stomping harshly on the ground.

He only shrugged. "oh you know what they say: when in lov-" That's when Frisk threw the bowl of cheese dip at him, landing right on top of his head. A bit of it splattered on Undyne's shirt and that's when she yelled **"FOOD FIIIIIIIIGHT!"** Soon it was utter chaos. Frisk wasn't going to let the edible war put him off the hook though. They tackled him to the ground and glared at him in an accusing manner. Sans fell on his back and slid to the other side of the room, grinning at his partner's precarious position above him.

He eyed Frisk sat atop of his lap and chuckled. "at least let me buy you dinner first." He said suggestively.


End file.
